Vanity
by EchoSerenade
Summary: Roanoke: Edward Mott had been a wealthy man. He also had a beautiful wife whom he loved dearly, but there was something in his life that felt incomplete. No matter what he did, he couldn't find the missing piece. Eventually, he snatched up one of the slaves – Guinness. Edward/OC/Guinness, Edward/OC/Rory Rated M. Trigger Warning (Sixth in my AHS series)
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE**

Edward Mott had been a wealthy man. He also had a beautiful wife whom he loved dearly, but there was something in his life that felt incomplete. No matter what he did, he couldn't find the missing piece. Eventually, he snatched up one of the slaves – Guinness.

Guinness was a black slave sold by his old master. He was a handsome young man with deep, dark eyes and a beautifully low voice. This man was not averse to exploring his carnal fantasies.

They kept their affair a secret, right in the house that he shared with his wife. She was too trusting of him. She had believed all his excuses and continued to love him as if he still deserved it.

The fact was, he still loved her very much, but she couldn't give him everything that he wanted.

"Guinness…" He threw his head back, buckling his hips as he came into the other man's mouth. "Come here." He pulled him up, stroking the large, throbbing member.

"Master… The mistress will hear if we're not more careful," he mumbled. There was a strong sense of guilt that he felt whenever he indulged in the master's wishes. His mistress was a kind woman who treated him compassionately. They were both wonderful people and he knew what he was submitting to would ultimately tear them apart.

Edward sighed. "She's out in the gardens with Martha. She won't hear us."

Guinness laid his head on the pillow. His body still pressed against the pale body beneath him. To be honest, sometimes, he'd imagine it was the mistress' body writhing beneath him. He didn't know why he was born this way. If anyone knew about his desires, they would execute him on the spot. Even he knew that it was sinful. He couldn't even tell Edward about it. He didn't want the master to hate him, so he did everything that was asked of him.

Once they were both satisfied and lounging languidly in bed, the guilt grew. "I don't think we should continue this," he whispered, knowing what the master would say. This wasn't the first time they had this conversation. "The mistress would be very hurt if she ever finds out."

Edward's hold on him tightened. "I know," he murmured. "I don't' know what's wrong with me. I can't get enough of you, but I also can't imagine living without her. She was all I ever wanted. I've loved her since I was but a young lad and I never stopped loving her, but I also love you."

Guinness felt his heart skip a beat. That was the first time his master had ever uttered those words to him. Sure, they had intercourse regularly, but he never thought he felt anything more than lust for the lowly servant. "I love you, too." He hated himself for feeling this way.

The seasons continued to pass as they secretly fell into each other's arms.

"Mistress… I do not believe that will be proper." He was staring wide-eyed at his petite mistress who was having trouble with her dress.

"But I can't just walk around in a slip! Martha is visiting her family and my husband is finally out socialising." Edward had a problem with interacting with strangers. Most of the business was conducted by the mistress who could smile and reel in the money. "Please, Guinness. I need help with this corset. It's not as if I am asking you to undress me. Quite the opposite! Now, _please,_ before I really have to walk around the house in a slip."

He hesitantly walked over. He was no stranger to the bedroom, but never alone with the mistress. It felt wrong. He felt as if he was committing a crime, but the sight of her state of almost undress made his pants tighten. There _had_ to be something wrong with him. No normal man would be attracted by both men and women. It was wrong. It was so wrong.

"Thank you. I very much appreciate this."

With shaky hands, he mustered all the gentleness his large hands could carry out and held the ribbons between his fingers. He accidentally dropped one of them and when he went to grab it back, he brushed against her skin.

It was warm and soft - warmer and softer than the master's. His heart raced in his chest, rushing blood to both heads. It was difficult to think. All he had to do was pull, but it was as if he suddenly forgot how to use his hands.

"Do you need me to guide you?" she softly offered.

He thought he was going to die on the spot and suddenly, he stumbled to the side, his hands still on the ribbons. They both fell with a loud ' _thump!'_

Once he was over the initial shock, he could feel her on top of him. Her head rested on his chest and her thigh was toughing his groin. She felt so tiny against him. Would he hurt her if he moved, now?

"Are you okay? I didn't mean to – "

"Guinness, what on Earth is going on?"

His heart abruptly stopped as he turned his head to see the master standing at the doorway looking utterly shocked at the sight in front of him. "Master, it was an accident!" he exclaimed.

Too soon, the warmth on his chest disappeared. "Edward, he was just helping me with my corset. It was my fault, really. I knew he didn't know anything about feminine wear, but I was desperate. If you had stayed a little longer when I told you to, then this wouldn't have happened, so it's _your_ fault it happened."

Edward walked over to his wife and pulled her into his arms. "If I waited for you, then I wouldn't have been able to make it to the meeting on time and _you_ were the one who wanted me to go." He placed a kiss on her lips and groaned when she deepened it. There was no anger between the two of them. In fact, the sight of his wife on top of his lover had made him unexpectedly aroused.

"Of course, allow me to properly apologise to you," she purred, running her hand down his chest.

His eyes met Guinness' and he could tell that the slave was trying to recollect himself. He didn't know whether the tight breeches were because of him or his wife, but the thought sent another spike of pleasure through his body. Was it possible for them to have a happy ending, after all? It had never occurred to him before that the three of them could co-exist without secrets. Perhaps he had been going about this completely the wrong way.

"I… I'll just…" Guinness scurried off before he could say anything.

Edward broke away from her and closed the door. "How are you going to apologise to me, wife?" he growled, tearing away her unbound corset with ease. "I saw my wife lying on top of a black man. What am I to think?"

He saw a spark of fear in her eyes and almost immediately regret his words. He hadn't meant that in a threatening way, but he was horribly turned on by what he saw and couldn't keep it out of his thoughts. Why couldn't he be smooth like his father?

"It was an accident, Edward!" she protested, looking away from him. He didn't like that. "He was helping me with my corset because no one else was around. It was never meant to be – "

He turned her chin to face him again and pressed his lips on hers, muffling the rest of the words. "I wasn't accusing you of anything, wife."

He tugged the string from her inner slip, allowing it to fall to the floor, pooling around her feet. Her milky skin was pale like the moon. There was a flush that ran from the top of her breast to her neck. It didn't take him long to latch his lips on a pink nipple. Her soft gasp made his pants tighter. "You're so beautiful," he mumbled against her breast. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Edward," she sighed, sliding his white wig off so that she could bury her fingers into his curls.

He placed his arms around her and carried her to the bed.

"We should go downstairs. Nina will be upset if her cooking goes to waste." She let out a gasp when his hand reached between her legs. "Edward!" Her toes curled and she gave in. "Maybe for a few minutes."

Of course, it didn't turn out to be a few minutes. He may have trouble with social settings, but no one could ever complain that they weren't thoroughly satisfied after he was done in bed.

She was lying on top of him, on the verge of dozing off, again, when her stomach gave a loud rumble. He could practically feel the heat travel up to her face. "'M hungry… But I don't think I can move…"

He chuckled. "Should I get Nina to bring the food to us, instead?"

She shook her head. "No, we should go down and I should probably reassure Guinness that he's not in trouble. I feel really bad. He was so uncomfortable when I asked him."

Edward hoped that it wasn't because they were having an affair behind her back. It was nice imagining a world where the three of them could romantically co-exist together, but if she ever found out, he knew he would lose everything. That could never happen. He couldn't lose her.

"Let's go…" he murmured, gently sliding out from beneath her and began to get dressed. A shiver went down his spine when he felt her fingers caress his lower back.

"Are you still angry?" she asked. He always appeared so upset whenever she mentioned the servant. She didn't want him to think that she would ever cheat on him. He was all she ever needed. She hoped that he knew that.

"Of course not." He leaned down to kiss her. "Get up or Nina will come storming in with her frying pan."

She hummed, stretching like a cat on the bed. "I really should."

Eventually, she was able to get out of bed and this time, he helped her with her corset.

They walked down to the dining hall where Nina had her arms crossed and when she spotted them, she began to bark orders to the other servants who scrambled around.

She would never yell at them for their tardiness, but she also never hid her irritation. With a roll of her eyes, she stomped towards the kitchen and in minutes, the overly large table was lined with plates and plates of food. As expected, everything was still the perfect temperature and everything tasted perfect.

Nina was godsend, especially since she tolerated their antics.

They sat down at the table, talking and laughing. They were loud and obnoxious, until she caught sight of a certain male peeking into the room. He had quickly disappeared after he found her looking at him and the hit of guilt stabbed at her, again.

She quickly dismissed herself and ran off, leaving Edward in mid-bite, confused as to what had gotten into her.

She ran down the hall, catching the attention of many of the other servants before she managed to spot him, again, but she couldn't exactly just pull him aside and talk to him. It'd be absolutely improper and if word went out to her husband, it'd ruin them! She had to be discreet, but how could she apologise to him properly?

"Guinness!" she blurted out before she could stop it. She could see that he wanted to keep going, but thought better of it as she was still the lady of the house.

"My lady," he mumbled with his eyes downcast as if he was afraid to look at her – as if he was in any other household, but that was not how she taught them. She liked to be spoken to as if she was any other person and not some greater being that his old master liked to carry himself as. "How may I help you?"

"I need you to fetch something for me. A… A gift for Edward. Here." She took out her pouch of coins and handed a few to him. "Please, I trust your judgment. I want it to be a surprise for him, so bring it back to me as soon as possible when you return. Anything that is left over, you may keep for yourself to do with whatever you like."

He swallowed. When she handed him the coins, he could feel her soft hand touch his heavily calloused one. It was such a stark contrast to their status, no matter how she pretended otherwise. Not only that, _he_ had to stop thinking that it was alright for the master to call on him at night.

Perhaps he would talk to him after he returned. It was probably for the best. He couldn't keep this up for much longer. The guilt was eating him up from inside.

He went down to the market and looked at all the stalls. Why hadn't he asked her any questions? He really didn't know what to get for the master. There had never been an occasion in his life where he needed to purchase gifts for anyone, but he _had_ been given them before.

The master was as kind as the mistress and he always knew what he wanted. As he made a second round through the market, something finally caught his eyes. It was a beautiful silver necklace with a ruby pendant. It would fit the mistress. Did he have enough to purchase them both gifts? Was he hoping that by doing this, he'd be alleviated of the guilt?

He reached over to touch the necklace when a hand quickly slapped his away. "Get your filthy paws away! I don't need your kind ruining the shine of my merchandise!"

He had instinctively retracted his hand, but was now trying to explain that all he wanted to do was but it.

"It's for the lady of the house!" he exclaimed. 'She asked me to come down here to buy that _specifically_." He hoped that he was convincing enough, but the shopkeeper shook her head before demanding to see the money that was given to him.

He didn't know how much the necklace cost and he didn't want the sneering woman to hike up the price, so he quickly asked for it first. In his experience at the market, he knew he had to haggle no matter what the initial offer may be. There was always a lower price they'd eventually give in to. This time was no different.

When he pushed the woman to her limit, he quickly produced the compromised amount and dropped it into her hand.

Her angered face quickly disappeared as soon as she triple counted the coins and she quietly wrapped up the necklace in a beautiful red box with a silky white ribbon.

"Thank you." He bowed his head and continued on, satisfied with the outcome. Unfortunately, he still needed to get one more thing, but he wasn't sure what to get. Maybe he should go for something safe like… like… Clothing? Fabric? Did he need a new wig? The questions were endless.

Eventually, he settled on a silver pocket watch to match the necklace he had gotten for the mistress. Surely, that would be an appropriate gift.

He hurried back to the household as the sun was quickly setting behind him. He had already wasted s much time. He shouldn't have kept her waiting for so long.

He started making his way towards the bedroom, but thought better of it. Maybe she was at the dining hall… He went back down and checked the table.

Nina and the other servants were the only ones there. They asked if he wanted to join, but he shook his head. He wasn't hungry and there was always leftovers saved up for later. He had to find her first.

When he couldn't find her anywhere, he hesitantly went back towards the bedroom. His heart raced as he remembered the last time he was here. What was he going to find this time?

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

While I still haven't finished AHS: Hotel, yet, I did end up writing a sort of side story for Roanoke. It's not going to be very long, probably half a dozen chapters or so. I really don't know, yet, but I hope you guys like what I have for now.

I also noticed that there wasn't a "World" selection for Roanoke Nightmare, so it's just going to be in "Any" until there are any updates.

Please, drop a review if you did.

Thank you!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own American Horror Story or any of the characters. This applies throughout the entire story.**

* * *

 **CHAPTER TWO**

He cracked the door open.

"Edward…" the low moan went into his ears and straight down his body to the point between his legs.

He shouldn't be doing this. It was wrong.

Those thoughts repeated in his mind over and over again, but he only pushed the door a little more until he could see the two silhouettes that almost looked as if they were one. The moonlight filtered through the window, giving him teasing glimpses of their milky pale flesh.

"Please…" she begged, reaching down to tug the soft curls he only knew too much about. "Stop playing games with me…"

His eyes fluttered as his own pleasure spiked with hers. Oh, how he wanted to joint hem, but he knew that was only a fantasy. It was never going to happen. It _couldn't_ happen. He didn't want the mistress to be caught up in all the mess that he had created by being intimate with the master, already. She was too good. She was too pure.

"I love you."

His eyes snapped open just as their lips met. His normally loose pants were becoming uncomfortably tight. He had to get away from this. If he stayed any longer, he knew that he would lose his mind.

Letting out a shaky breath, he finally closed the door and scurried away, trying his hardest to ignore the pulsing flesh that was begging for release.

What he left behind, however, were two startled people who looked at the door as if a ghost had possessed it. "What was that?" Edward mumbled, wondering what could have caused a _closed_ door to slam closed.

She looked as well, but realisation hit her quickly. Edward had distracted her when she was in the gardens, waiting for Guinness to return. He had brought her back into their room where he continued his seduction and she had completely fallen for it. All thoughts disappeared as if they had all been washed away by his scent, his taste, his though. She had been so consumed by him that she just made the same mistake twice.

Guinness was going to hate her. He'd think that she was some bully – or worse, harlot – teasing him on purpose, but that hadn't been the case, at all.

"Probably one of the servants who needed something," she mumbled back, not exactly lying.

He regarded her with a raised eyebrow. "In that case…" He slid out almost completely before ramming back in, causing her to gasp and dig her ails into his back. "There's no need to worry. Everyone knows that you are mine. They could talk all they want, but this is our house, our bedroom, and you are my lovely wife."

She stroked his face. "I love you."

He quickened his pace, feeling her clamp down on him as he went harder and deeper with each thrust. "God, I love you, too."

His name shook the walls as he brought her exploding over the edge and finally allowed himself to burn rightly with her.

When he was with her, it was as if nothing else mattered. She was his everything and he wanted her to know everything about him. He just wasn't sure how to bring up the subject, anymore. Perhaps if he had come clean from the start, it wouldn't have come to this. Perhaps he should've talked to her about these sinful desires before defiling the slave, things wouldn't have escalated so quickly. H e was afraid that he really could lose everything if word got out that he was sharing a bed with not only another person, but a man – no, a _black slave_.

"I love you," he said, again, kissing her. He allowed her soft lips to ease him of the raging thoughts in his head.

She looked at him with eyes that sparkled with moonlight. "I love you, too, and… and I have something to tell you." Heat went up her neck and flooded to her face as she thought of how she was finally going to tell him her secret.

"What is it?" He turned her on to her side and slid her comfortably against him until they were curved into a perfect puzzle.

She took the hand that lied on her hip and slid it against her stomach.

His heart skipped.

"I'm pregnant, Edward," she whispered, a fond smile on her face. "I went to the matron the other day and she told me that I was at least two months pregnant. We're finally going to have a child together."

At first, she had been afraid to tell him. They had never discussed children, but neither of them was young anymore. It was probably best that they finally had and heir in case anything happened.

"P-Pregnant? He stuttered. His eyes were wide and he began to subconsciously rub her stomach. It was still as flat as ever. "Mine?"

She giggled, twisting her neck to kiss him. "Of course, silly. Who else would he belong to?"

"He?" He swallowed, suddenly feeling as if he was being overwhelmed by this invisible child that was still barely considered living.

Her head bobbed. "Our baby is going to be a boy, I just know it." A content sigh left her lips. "He's going to look exactly like you."

He chuckled. "And then, we'll have more. Our son can't be by himself." Suddenly, he really wanted to have children. It was time. He couldn't wait until his son was born and then, he wanted to see a small version of his beautiful wife running around in the house. "I think half a dozen might be a good start – more when you're up to it."

She whacked him on the arm. " _You_ give birth to six kids!" She was actually a bit nervous. All the stories she had heard from the servants… She was afraid of the pain and… What if he stopped loving her once she became as big as aw hale? What about the stretch marks?

She hoped that she wasn't going to end up as nothing more than a brood to carry his children.

As the thoughts continued, Edward turned her to face him. "What's wrong?" he asked, leaving a kiss on her forehead.

"Would… Would you still love me when I'm fat and ugly?" she asked him, her bottom lip sticking out.

He blinked at her before a burst of laughter escaped him.

"E-Edward…" She was genuinely concerned and there he was, laughing at her! Didn't he understand that she was being completely serious? "Stop laughing! It's not funny!"

When he realised that she was truly expecting a reply, he held her closer, whispering against her lips. "You can be so silly. Of course, I'll still love you. I'll love you no matter what. You can grow another arm on your forehead and have a lazy eye and I'll still love you."

"What if I had two lazy eyes?" Her lips began to quirk upward. "Would you still love me then?"

"Even then," he promised.

With that, she happily buried her face into his chest, dozing off with the thought of a loving husband and future children.

He had been telling the truth when he said he loved her and that was never going to change, but he would have to talk to Guinness about it. If he had to, he was going to end the affair. He couldn't afford to lose his wife and his unborn child – _son_.

He extricated himself from her slumbering form and went in search of the servant who seemed to have become all but missing since what happened with the corset.

"Guinness?" He slipped into his room and found the black man sitting on his bed with his head in his hands. "Guinness…" The door closed and locked before he sat beside his lover. "Are you alright?" He kissed his neck, but the other man scooted away.

"What's wrong?" He nudged him. "Are you sick?"

"No…" Guinness eventually replied, trying his hardest to relax, but Edward could tell that something was bothering him. "Can we… not do it, tonight?"

He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "About that, I have to tell you something, but you can't tell anyone about it, yet."

Guinness shot him a look.

"She's pregnant," he blurted out. "And I don't want to lose them." Guinness could feel his heart drop. Was that it? Was he finally going to break it off? It was probably for the best. He felt as if he was going to go crazy if this went on. All the guilt and forbidden desires… He didn't want to end up in another household if this blew up. He knew that his master and mistress were had to come by. Most owners were cruel to their slaves, but he didn't want to let him go. Being so close to him, yet not being able to feel his affection was going to be painful.

"It's okay," he mumbled, his eyes downcast. He clenched the two small packages that were in his lap. This had also been what he was thinking, wasn't it? He just didn't think it'd actually become reality.

"What are these?" Edward asked, hoping that if he changed the subject that it'll make things less awkward.

Guinness quickly hid them behind his back as if it was really going to do anything. "N-Nothing."

With a quick motion, they were both in Edward's possession. The dirty blonde carefully unwrapped the first item. His eyes went wide as they set upon the beautiful necklace. It wasn't his wife's, he was quite familiar with all her trinkets, so at least he knew Guinness hadn't stolen it from her.

"What is this" he asked the other man. His voice was gentle, but firm. "Guinness, did you steal this?" There was no way someone of his stature could've afforded something so expensive.

Guinness quickly shook his head. "The m-mistress gave me money to purchase something, but…" Should he tell the master? What would he think knowing that a slave had bought his wife a present? "I saw this and… and it reminded me of her, so I couldn't resist buying it…"

"Monet? Why did she give you money?" Edward was growing more and more confused by the second. Were his wife and servant playing some game behind his back?

Guinness shook his head, again. "She wanted me to buy a present f-for… you. May I please have that back?" He gestured to the unopened package. 'She wanted it to be a surprise. I don't want to disobey her orders."

Edward had no problem handing the other wrapped item over, but his hand squeezed the necklace in his palm. "Tell me, Guinness. _Why_ did you buy this for her? You could've kept the rest of the money. I know how my wife is. She is generous and would often leave enough remaining for the servants to keep. This is more than you'll ever see in years. Why didn't you keep the money for yourself?"

He didn't know how to reply. Would the master only be angrier if he told the truth?"

"Tell me, Guinness." He could feel the master's breath caress his ear and it left his heart pounding in his chest. This wasn't fair! He wasn't allowed to that after telling him that they couldn't be intimate anymore. It was cruel!

A hand rested on his knee and slowly raised up, stopping just before the pronounced bulge between his legs. "Does the sight of her make your blood sing? Does she make you forget all your senses? Did you like the sight of her pale flesh? Did you enjoy the feel of her body upon yours?" His master's words made him groan and he felt his head bob in agreement.

"Were you watching us earlier?" The hand slipped into his trousers and grimly gripped his pulsing flesh. The pressure was growing painful. "Did you enjoy it?" his master purred, nibbling on his earlobe.

"P-Please…" he sighed.

Edward shook his head. "One last night. That is all I can promise you."

Anything. He was willing to accept anything given to him as long as he could find release.

The master peeled him like a present and the two of them recreated the scene he had seen with the mistress. All the while, he couldn't stop imagining her right beside them, touching him as if he was truly worth her time.

Edward sighed after Guinness dozed off. He hadn't meant to do that, but the way his lover reacted to his wife made him so hot inside. It also gave him hope. Could he really make this work without losing either of them? To even fathom this, he'd have to confess everything to her.

He was afraid.

 _He was so, so afraid._

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

Sorry, this chapter is a little short. I'm experiencing quite a bit writer's block for all my stories, right now. I just got a new computer and I need to rearrange everything on here. It's also December, now, so I'm making millions of cards and wrapping presents! Also a lot of shopping being done. Work has also been super busy – draining the life out of me, currently.

For anyone who read my Thomas Sharpe story, I'm trying to update as soon as it's done writing. It's taking just a little longer than all my regular stories. They tend to be lengthier, but I'm really hoping to get something out this coming week.

Good thing is, I'm really watching AHS: Hotel and I'm currently on Episode Seven. I also like the premise of it and feel like I can work something out. Bad thing is, I'm finding myself really liking John Lowe, so I have a little question here. I do want to write a story for Hotel, but I kind of really want to centre it on John and an OC (Madi?).

The question is… Who should I pair Madi with?

1\. John

2\. James

3\. Both John and James?

Thank you **PsychoBeachGirl88, Mystery Angle** , guests ( **anonymouscsifan, Mongoose Season** ) for reviewing!

 **PsychoBeachGirl88:** Thank you for reviewing!

 **anonymouscsifan** : I was really disappointed with Roanoke, too, but I think I'm going to use that season to slowly pull things together or add a twist to the entire series. I definitely have something planned, but I don't know how I will end it, at all. In terms of his wife and Guinness... I'll let you make your own assumptions for now!

 **Mystery Angle** : Thank you! I really hope you like this story.

 **Mongoose Season** : You'll know her reaction, soon!

Thank you as well to everyone who has favourited and followed this story.

Please, leave a review if you enjoyed this story.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

She woke up to the feeling of him beside her. That was rare. He was usually up longer before her, but she wasn't going to complain. This was a nice surprise.

She gently touched his lips and watched them quirk upward.

"I love you," he whispered, opening his eyes and looking at her through thick lashes.

His hand trailed over to her stomach, rubbing the spot where their baby was growing. "Soon, my love." She leaned down to kiss him.

"Soon…" He sighed, closing his eyes, again.

She tilted her head. "Is something wrong?" Her body rested on his, causing him to let out a low groan and hold her close to him as if she was going to disappear if he let go. "Edward…"

"What is going on with you and Guinness?"

She froze. "What? I thought you knew that there was nothing going on between us. There is only you, Edward." There was desperation in her voice. Why couldn't he understand that she would never be unfaithful to him? He was her everything.

He pulled her into another kiss. "I'm not accusing you of anything. I'm just curious. What if you had a chance to spend one night with him, would you? With my full consent, of course."

A blush was making its way up her neck. "I don't understand what you're asking."

"What if I was there in the room watching you?" His voice grew huskier as he ran his hand down her hip, resting on her thigh. "Would you do it?"

"Stop it, Edward," she whispered, but her body felt as if it was on fire and there was no way to put it out. The aspect of him watching her do anything naughty was arousing to her.

"Come with me." He dragged her out of bed with nothing but her nightie. Her protests were silenced as soon as they left the privacy of their room. She didn't want anyone to see her practically naked in the halls.

"Where are you taking me?" she hissed, trying to tug them back into the bedroom, so that she could change into something more presentable.

He didn't reply. Instead, he burst into Guinness' room without knocking, startling the slumbering man awake. He let out a yelp and stared at the intruders in shock.

What was happening? Both of them were in his room at the same time. Did that mean he was finally being kicked out? He didn't want to go. The acceptance he acquired had flown out the window. He didn't want to leave them, but it wasn't as if he had a choice. If they wanted to sell him, there was nothing he could do about it. He'd have to face the consequences of what he had done.

"I love you," Edward said to her. "I love you more than anything in the world. I'd die for you."

Guinness felt his heart shatter. This was very cruel of his master. He already knew that he loved his wife and would choose her without a second thought. That had already been emotionally and vocally conveyed.

"But I also love Guinness," Edward went on, feeling his wife stiffen against him. "I don't want to choose between either of you. I also don't want to lose either of you."

She shook her head. "How long?" she whispered.

Neither of them said anything. Neither of them knew what to say.

She stepped away from them, her head still shaking. "How long have you been doing it behind my back?!" The tears streamed down her face as her voice cracked. "I'm having your son and you finally decide to tell me?"

Her body was trembling. "Is this where you go to every night? Is this why I rarely wake up next to you because you're still asleep here with your lover?"

"No!" Edward exclaimed. "Please, I love you. I never wanted to hurt you."

"Well, you have, Edward. How long has this been going on? Weeks? Months? _Years_?"

He looked way. "Since… Since we bought the plantation and moved here."

Her glistening blue eyes widened. "Since what…?" That had been over five years ago! "And I've trusted you… I've heard all those rumours from the other servants. They whispered about seeing you sneaking into his room in the middle of the night. It thought they were just making them up… How could I have been so foolish?"

She spun on her heels and disappeared out the room, leaving the two men devastated.

Edward had been selfish. He thought he was able to hang on to both of them if he came clean. He thought his wife would accept him having a lover. Many other men had mistresses, but he never had that fancy until he saw Guinness. That was when he finally gave into his lust. He was a sinner. He had never been good enough for her. And now, he had finally lost her. He had lost both her and his son, that night.

As he grieved and reprimanded himself, Guinness wasn't doing much better. He had never admitted it to anyone before, but he also loved the mistress. Seeing her so heartbroken, he almost wished that he had ended it before it started. She had been the angel who bought him out of an abusive master. She had saved him from a cruel fate and this was how he repaid her. His mother would've beaten him black and blue if she was still alive. She must've been rolling in her grace. He had to fix this, somehow.

Abruptly, he stood up. "I must leave. Sell me anywhere you'd like, but I can't stay here."

Edward turned to him with bloodshot eyes. "Don't go. I've lost her. I can't lose you, too. Stay."

Guinness didn't know what to do. He felt as if he no longer belonged here. He had destroyed the family that had been so kind to him. "But… Maybe she'll forgive you if I was gone. I don't…" He didn't want to see her upset. It was tearing him up from inside.

"Just stay. I'll talk to her. Don't go anywhere." Edward wiped away his tears and did what he should've done as soon as she left.

He followed her.

"Where did she go?!" he demanded the nervous servants who must've heard everything that had happened.

One of them swallowed hard and pointed around the corner.

He sprinted out the house and looked wildly around, gaining odd looks from all the servants who were outside and completely oblivious to what had happened.

He called out her name, but didn't see her anywhere.

No one approached to tell him, so he grabbed the closest person – a young man who was barely old enough to be called a man. "Where is she? Where did she go?"

"W-Who?" The boy stared at him with wide eyes.

Edward couldn't recognise him. Was he new? Was he one of her strays that she took in? "My wife! Where did she go?"

The servant looked hesitantly to the left and that was enough for him to let the boy go and head towards the forest. It wasn't safe there, didn't she know? She could get hurt. _Their baby_ could get hurt!

He had to find her. He had to somehow make it right, again. He should've just ended it with Guinness, last night. He shouldn't have told her. If he had really thought everything through, maybe she would've still been in his arms, celebrating her pregnancy.

In the forest, he continued to shout her name like a maniac. Birds flew away from him. Deer ran away from him. He had never felt like such a failure before.

"Please…" He collapsed on to his knees. His blonde hair fell into his eyes as he continued to think of all the ways she could be in pain because of him – or worse. If she died, he found no reason to go on.

The sun moved quickly across the sky and although he had gathered the strength to keep moving, again, she remained elusive. His wife was nowhere to be found and he didn't know what to do, anymore.

When night finally fell, he dragged himself back to the house where he could see clumps of servants whispering and staring at him. "Shut up!" he shouted at them.

They immediately quieted down, but he could still feel their eyes burning holes into the back of his head. He knew that as soon as he was gone, they'd start talking, again. He was powerless to change anything. He was absolutely useless.

He went up the stairs and peeked into the bedroom.

Empty.

There had been a part of him that really thought there was a chance that she had returned. Even if she never spoke to him again, he just wanted to know that she was safe. With the sun gone and darkness covering everything like a heavy blanket, his fears amplified.

Within minutes of his return, he was barking around orders. Perhaps the servants could spread out and find her. Perhaps she had heard him calling and decided to hide. He didn't want to contemplate any other reasons why she wouldn't answer him.

Soon, the house was empty. Even Nina had abandoned the kitchen to look for the mistress. That was fine. He wasn't hungry. How could he even have an appetite at a time like this?

"Master…" A meek voice reached his pacing form. He turned towards the sad eyes that reflected his own and the tears came right back.

"What have I done?" he whispered to his lover.

Guinness didn't know how to comfort him. He was only a slave. He had nothing to offer his wealthy master – nothing, except his heart and body, but look at how that turned out. "Sh-should I go and look for her? I didn't go because I thought she might not want to see me."

Edward wiped futilely at the tears, hoping that it would clear his vision. "No, it's fine. It's my fault. I knew that this would happen, eventually. I don't know why I thought it'd be better if I told her instead of her finding out any other way." He dropped into the plush armchair with a dejected sigh. "What am I going to do without her?"

The room fell into an uncomfortable silence that was only penetrated by Edward's sorrowful sobs. Guinness didn't know what to do. If he went near his master, now, would it do more harm than good? "Would she come back if I left?" he whispered.

Edward didn't know. If he was guaranteed that she was going to come back, he would buy a place for Guinness to live in on his own with no fear of being enslaved, again, but he didn't know if anything was going o bring her back. He'd rather have someone than no one, at all. "Stay," he told him. "Don't leave me. I need you. Now, more than ever."

Guinness hesitantly went over to him and knelt by his feet as if begging for forgiveness. Edward's long fingers grabbed his shirt and pulled him on to the bed.

That night, his master was rough and he was unyielding. Guinness took in everything, hoping that it would help Edward and that the physical pain would somehow overtake the ache in his heart.

"I'm sort." His master was in tears, again, as he pulled him close and kissed his forehead. "Have I hurt you?"

"No," he lied. He didn't want to make it worse for him, but his master probably already knew by the way he was eying the spots of blood on the sheets.

"I'm so sort, Guinness,' his master apologised, again. "Perhaps it's best if you left."

His heart sank, once more.

"Hurting people is all I seem to know how to do," Edward went on. "I don't want to do this, anymore. I love you and I love her and our unborn child, but I've already hurt all of you. How could something so beautiful end up so painful?

Guinness sighed. "If you really want me to leave, I will. Just tell me to go, but don't make me leave because you think it'll hurt _me_."

Edward said no more. Instead, he tightened his hold on Guinness and willed that tomorrow would be better –t hat he would see her, again.

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

Sorry, this is definitely short, but with the way the story is written, it's the only place I could stop before getting into the next part. There are most likely two more chapters to go. I have a chapter of Hotel written and will post it as soon as this story is done. I'm currently working on my Crimson Peak story. I also still have a million Christmas cards to make. This is just kind of stressful… The Holiday season is such a nice time, but the work put into it before the fun is a little overwhelming, sometimes. I enjoy it all. I just wish there was more time in a day to do everything that I want.

Anyway! Good news is, I've finally finished AHS: Hotel and I have a lot of thoughts on it. I may rant later on, who knows.

I'm just going to leave a short tally here in terms of the romance poll. I'll decide on a final pairing probably at the end of this story, so if you want to give your opinion, you have a couple of weeks to go.

 _James: 2_

 _Both James and John: 4_

Thank you **Candyluver2121, HermioneandMarcus, girlsacred, Mystery Angle, masquerade04** , guests ( **anonymouscsifan, Guest** ) for reviewing!

 **Candyluver2121** : It shouldn't be too long, now! Hotel will be out as soon as this is done, which is probably in a couple of weeks and hopefully by then, I'd have more planned out than what I currently have.

 **HermioneandMarcus** : Thank you! I'm going to tally up all the votes by the end of this story and see how I'll proceed with Hotel!

 **anonymouscsifan** : I hated Alex the most, but the Countess is a pretty close second. I couldn't stand any scene with Alex in it. The selfishness, the almost inappropriate obsession with Holden, _everything_ drove me off the wall! And then the ending to the season... Oh, God… Definitely not what I wanted. Expect changes when I get there.

 **girlsacred** : I'm going to assume that that means you want a nice and steamy threesome? Teehee!

 **Guest** : So far, I'm torn between just James and Madi and James, Madi, and John. Grr… I'm glad that you'll be flexible, though, because it seems that the outcome will be one or the other. It's so hard to decide!

 **Mystery Angle** : Noooo the power of choice is too heavy for me to bear alone!

 **masquerade04** : I definitely agree with you in terms of James and his kinks. Feels like I have so many ideas and so hard to choose the right one to make a cohesive story!

Thank you as well to everyone who has favourite and followed this story.

Please, leave a review if you enjoyed this.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

The next morning, he was abruptly woken up by a commotion that nearly shook the entire house. He could hear everyone shouting and screaming. Seeing Guinness in his arms and the bloodstained sheets, he was pulled back into the reality that he didn't want to accept.

Getting dressed, he ran his hand through his messy hair and slowly made his way downstairs. "What is going on?" he demanded, watching everyone scurrying around like headless chickens.

None of them answered him and he quickly grew irate. "I said… _WHAT. IS. GOING. ON?_!"

Nina, completely flustered, huffed at him. "If you really care to know, the lady has been found, but she is unwell. She has been out in the cold all night and will not wake." With that, she hurried way with the cloth in her hand.

Edward quickly followed her. His heart raced. He was glad that she was back, but was she alright? Was the baby alright? Were they going to… die? No, he couldn't have that. It would destroy him.

He rushed into the room and found her lying in their bed, pale and unresponsive. The female servants had stripped her out of her dirty clothes and reclothed in something warmer.

When he walked towards the bed, no one acknowledged him as they normally would. He could feel their accusatory stares and knew that he had lost all respect they had for him. "Open your eyes." He begged her, holding her icy hand. He kissed her palm. "I swear I will do better. I'll do anything you'd like. I'll spend as many lifetimes as I need to make it up to you." The tears trailed down his face and fell on to the cover. "I love you. Just please, _please_ wake up. Even if it means that you'll never love me back. I'll leave. I'll do _anything_."

The servants all watched their master completely fall apart. They were used to his nervous breakdowns, but it was never like this. They could feel his agony and regret suffocating the room.

"Let's get you out. The doctor is here and he needs to do his job without any interference," Nina quietly said, guiding him past the physician.

He dazedly followed, wondering if this was truly it. No, Dr. Brown was going to help her. He would be able to fix her. He _had_ to.

Time crawled slowly as he waited. No matter who went by or Nina's incessant nags, he did not move from his spot beside the door. The servants went in and out constantly, but none of them would allow him access.

Had it been any normal day, they wouldn't have dared to defy him, but she had always been the favourite. She didn't just treat them well; she treated them like they were her friends. She had their affection – their loyalty. He didn't blame them. He would never harm any of them, but he also didn't care to learn all of their names or their back story. It seemed so insignificant to him and it wasn't as if he'd be able to remember all of them, but she did.

She had spread her love equally among them, while he took favourites. Perhaps that was what he did wrong. One day, his favouritism turned into something more.

"Mr. Mott?" Dr. Brown's low voice cut through his thoughts.

He immediately stood up. His eyes were wild as he looked expectantly at the doctor.

"Mrs. Mott is doing better. She is slowly warming up and the baby is fine. Please, in her condition, she shouldn't be left wandering in the cold alone. Not only are the woods unsafe for a defenceless, pregnant lady, they are also more prone to the cold. Take good care of her." Dr. Brown stood in front of him as he slowly allowed the information to sink in.

She was going to be alright. The baby was going to be alright.

A throat clearing snapped him back to reality, once more.

"H-Here." He went into his pocket and stuffed the entire coin pouch into the doctor's hand. "Keep it. Can I see her, now?"

The doctor nodded. "I will return tomorrow to see how she is doing. Make sure she doesn't stay out all night, especially since she is carrying. Take care of your wife, Mr. Mott."

With a nod, Dr. Brown was shown out of the house.

Edward wondered if he somehow knew. Had someone told him? Was it one of the servants? Did she wake up and tell her herself? Did she plan on packing up and leaving, now?

Suddenly, he dreaded going in there. Not only did he fear what she was going to say, he also didn't want to see her so frail. She had always been delicate, but never on the verge of completely falling apart and it was his entire fault. He didn't want to see her hate-filled eyes on him. That would break him, but he really wanted to see her. He _needed_ to see her, to make sure that she was really alright.

After taking several deep breaths, he stepped into the room where only one servant remained. Seeing him, the woman lowered her eyes and silently walked away.

He sat beside her and found her still unconscious, but she was breathing easy. Her face wasn't ashy anymore and when he held her hand, she was warm. He brushed back her tangled brown hair and slowly began to unknot the long tresses.

"Wake up," he urged her. "I need to see that you're really alright. Let me make it up to you. I swear I'll be good. I'll do anything you ask. Please, wake up." He repeated the words over and over, again. What else was he going to say?

She remained still.

He didn't know what he expected. Why, of all people, would she listen to him? He was the one who did this to her in the first place.

"I know I've done you wrong. I know if you never forgive me that it'd be exactly what I deserve. I know th-th…" His words dissolved into sobs as he couldn't see a single way things would return to how they were. HE had gotten too greedy. He had gotten too careless. He had taken everything for granted.

When he opened his eyes, he nearly jumped out of his skin as two blue orbs stared back at him. "You're awake!" he breathed.

She opened her mouth and a coughing fit wracked through her body. He immediately shouted for help, imagining the worst, but when Nina came rushing over, she merely poured her a glass of water from the jug on the other side of the bed and helped his weak wife sit up.

Nina gently tilted the cup until all the water was gone and the cough subsided. In the meanwhile, the servant never said a word to him and he felt as if he was an outsider in his own home.

The servant leaned down and whispered into his wife's ear and whatever she said garnered a headshake. She patted her mistress' hand, shot him a well-deserved glare, and left.

"D-do you want me to leave?" he stammered.

She shook her head, again, but said nothing.

He didn't know what to do. HE wasn't used to this awkwardness between them. Whenever they were together, she was in his arms and they'd flirt like a young couple.

"Is there anything I can do to make you more comfortable? Do you need anything, at all?" He could feel his anxiety growing.

She shook her head.

"Talk to me. I can't stand this. I'm so sort for what I've done, but let me try to make it up to you. Do you want to hit me? Yell at me? I'll get on my knees and grovel. I swear that I'll do _anything_." He was already on his knees, looking at her with wide, hopeful eyes.

"No." Her quiet voice was the loudest thing he heard all day. It even superseded the drum-like beats of his heart. "Just sit there and don't say anything."

She closed her eyes, again. Time passed in completely silence. At one point, he wondered if he had imagined the entire interaction. "M – "

"Shh…" she hushed him. "I want to pretend that everything is still alright, even for a short moment."

He immediately clamped his mouth shut and closed his eyes, as well. HE imagined a time before he even had the temptation to look at another person.

They were in a large house – their old home. The fireplace was on because she was always a little ice cube. He'd have to suffer the heat or her wrath would be upon him.

Before they moved to the plantation, they lived life without much need for work. He had appointments with the other lords, but most of the time, he cancelled because of anxiety issues. It wasn't long before he began to lose the connections and when they happened, money slowed.

Soon, they didn't have the luxury of hiding in the large house. They had to rent out the beautiful manor and relocated to the slave-filled land. He hated the change, but knew that there wasn't much he could've done about it until he regained the respect of the other men.

It had been a difficult process. He didn't want to tell her of all his failures. He didn't want her to know that he was so incompetent, so he confided in another person. It had merely been midnight rants before it turned into something more.

Yes, that was when it all went wrong. He indulged in the forbidden romance and eventually, things got better. He had the best of both worlds. The only thing he had to do was keep them separated.

He couldn't even do that.

He should've known that it wouldn't last. He was actually surprised that he had kept on it for so long.

"I want to hate you." He voice shattered his thoughts.

He looked at her to see the tears streaming down the side of her face.

"But I can't," she sobbed. "Why didn't you tell me about it? How could you keep it a secret from me for this long? Did you ever even love me? Was everything a lie?!"

"Of course, I love you!" he quickly told her. "I've never stopped loving you, I swear." He squeezed her hand, hoping that somehow, she could just feel how genuine he was. "I'm sorry. I'll do anything to make it right, again. Just tell me what I have to do. I'll do it."

She didn't say anything to him. He thought that her silence meant that there was absolutely nothing he could do to fix the disaster he had created.

"Don't let this be the end of us. You're pregnant with my child." HE gently placed his hand on her stomach. 'Give me a chance to make things right. _Please_."

She rubbed her eyes and sighed at him. "Do you know what the worst thing is? I'm not even that angry that the two of you are together. I'm angry that you've kept this a secret from me for the past… the past five years. If you're unhappy with me, can't you tell me? I can change."

His heart dropped. No, that wasn't what he wanted, at all. This conversation suddenly took a drastic turn that made him feel even worse. He didn't think that that was even possible.

He never meant to make her feel as if she wasn't good enough for him. It was the complete opposite! He was the one who didn't deserve her. She was too good – too pure.

"Don't ever think that! I didn't keep it a secret to hurt you. I didn't go to him because you've done anything wrong or you're not good enough. You're perfect. It's me. There's something wrong with me." He didn't want to admit to her that he sometimes liked to see a flat chest and a hard cock. It wasn't anything she could do about it. There was just something sick in his head.

"But I love you…" Her voice was so soft and sad.

"And I love you. Always," he told her.

She sighed. 'I'd like to go to sleep, now."

He had no choice but to leave and when he was gone; he didn't know if things had gotten better or worse.

She sighed, again. Talking to him had taken a lot out of her.

Every part of her wanted to fling herself into his arms and pull him down on to the bed, but what he had done… How could she ever forgive him?

At first, it was the fact that he had a lover that made her run, but the more she thought about it, the more she realised that that hadn't been it, at all. She was hurt that he had kept this all from her. It wasn't as if she hadn't heard the others whisper about it before, but she had hoped that it was either not true or he would tell her about it, sooner.

She knew that men and women always had their side lovers. Maybe she was naïve to think that their love was enough.

It wasn't.

And now, they had this fragmented relationship. What was she going to do? She couldn't just leave. Her son needed his father and it wouldn't be fair to anyone if she took him away. Perhaps she was just trying to justify her own wretched heart refusing to allow her to give up on her husband.

"What am I going to do?" she whispered into the empty room, hoping that someone from above would give her the answers she needed to make the right decision.

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

There should only be one more chapter left and then I will get on to posting Hotel, soon! I noticed one little problem. I don't have a title, yet, and I was hoping that you guys can help me. The requirements are the same as before. It has to start with the letter 'V' and have six letters. Thank you!

 _James: 3_

 _Both James and John: 4_

Thank you guests (anonymouscsifan, Guest, Guest) for reviewing!

anonymouscsifan: I'm working on writing Hotel, now! I'm actually pretty hyped about it. I'm not sure if it's going in the direction that you'd like, but the inspiration has been flowing and I'm pretty content with it, so far. Crimson Peak is still going slow, but it's going. I have maybe a thousand words written a week or so. I'm hoping to pick up the pace for that. And I'd looove to read your AHS story! I doubt it sucks. Don't be so hard on yourself!

Guest: Thanks for the vote! I'll definitely take note of that.

Guest: Thank you! I hope this chapter is fine. I noticed that all my chapters for this story have been quite short. I hope that you don't mind.

Thank you as well to everyone who has favourite and followed this story.

Please, leave a review if you enjoyed this!


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

Days passed and there was no sign of any divine intervention. They kept up their image as well as they could to the other lords and ladies, but in the privacy of their home, they rarely spoke. Guinness had also made himself scarce. He found it difficult being in the same room as either of them as he could feel the thick tension and sorrow suffocate him. He also tended to avoid all the other slaves as they were less than discreet while blaming him for the marital crisis. In fact, the slave that hated him most was himself.

He didn't know what to do with himself anymore. The master wanted him to stay and without neither him nor the mistress' permission, he couldn't leave.

"The lady wants to speak to you. She's in the drawing room." He looked up to see a middle-aged woman glare at him before turning her nose and walking away.

He quickly cleaned up his station before going in search of his lady. His heart was racing in his chest as he wondered if she was calling him in to finally let him go.

When he arrived, he stopped in front of the opened door and he saw her reading a book in front of the fireplace. He knew that that was her favourite place to be. Sometimes, when he walked by and found her here, he'd watch her until he noticed her about to look up. That was when he'd quickly dart to the side, hiding before he could be caught.

Now, when he saw her lifting her head, he still had to urge to run away as if he was doing something wrong.

"Guinness…" she quietly greeted him, putting her book down on to her lap.

He swallowed. "My lady…" He bowed his head.

"Come, sit." She gestured to the armchair across room her.

He hesitantly complied. There was no sign of what she wanted to do to him. She was as perfectly composed as she usually was, but there was a deep sadness in her eyes, a mere shadow of what she had experienced on that night.

As he waited for her to speak, eh took a chance to peek at her. She seemed as hesitant as him, but eventually, she opened her mouth. "Do you love him?"

Immediately, his eyes fell back down. What was the right thing to say? Who was he willing to hurt?

"Tell me the truth," Guinness," she demanded, her voice more firm than before.

"I-I do…" he quietly confessed. "I'm sorry. I never meant to."

Her shoulders fell as she sighed. 'That is not something to apologise for. You can't help what you feel. What I want to know is why didn't you tell me? Why did you and Edward think it was a good idea to hide this from me?" Her hands clenched tightly on the book.

"I was afraid… o-of what you would do o-or react," he mumbled. He was afraid of this very moment. Why did Edward have to tell her? All it did was hurt all of them.

"What do you think I would do when you came up front with me from the start? Whip you? Have a public execution?" she asked with an incredulous tone to her voice.

He shook his head. That wasn't it, at all. He knew that when she found out, it would hurt her. "I'm sorry," he apologised, again. What else was he to do? Nothing could ever express how much he regret doing this to her.

"I love him, too, you know," she told him as if he didn't already know that. 'Come closer, Guinness. Come here."

He didn't know what she was planning, but he knew that he had to obey. He stopped in front of her, his legs nearly touching hers.

"Closer."

His legs bumped her knee.

"Closer." Her hand reached up and grabbed tightly to his shirt before giving a hard tug. Their lips met in an aggressive reunion. She bit his bottom lip until he allowed her entrance. She tasted familiar. There was always this lingering taste whenever he kissed Edward. He, now, knew where it came from.

When she broke away, he found himself leaning in for more, but quickly backed away, his face heating up. "W-why?"

"I wanted to know why he'd risk everything for this," she said.

"He asked me if I liked you," he blurted out.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "And what did you say?"

He swore that she could hear how loudly his heart was beating in his chest. "I-I told him the truth." He couldn't stop squirming under her dark gaze. The fire gave it a fiery glow as if she would devour him if he said the wrong thing. "I… I told him t-that I… I like you…"

He clenched his eyes shut, feeling a bead of swear trail down the side of his face. His hand was clenched tightly around the necklace in his pocket. He had been carrying that around ever since he bought it at the market.

Instead of a burst of pain as he expected, he felt her soft hand tenderly stroke his cheek. "Why are you afraid of me?" she quietly asked. He could hear the hurt in her voice. 'You know I will never hurt you."

"I know…" H expected it despite knowing all that, but he was so used to being thrown around by his former owner. "I'm sorry."

"Stop apologising!" she scolded him before letting out a defeated sigh. "What do you want? Do you want him?"

He hesitantly bobbed his head.

"Do you want me?"

He nodded, again.

"Do you want us… together?"

He swallowed hard, looking her in the eyes, feeling them slowly burn through him. "Yes."

She watched him fall to his knees and kissed the back of her hand. His tears were hot and wet. His body shook as he finally voiced his deepest desires. "It's alright," she told him. "Cry. Let it out and then, get Edward. I want him here."

He wiped away his tears and wondered how she could even bear to look at him. He was a mess. "I'll g-go, now."

She watched him until he was out of sight and all the breath left her body. She nearly fell completely limp in her chair. What was she doing? Was she actually contemplating this? This… whatever it was.

But she couldn't deny what Guinness made her body do. It was wet and tense. She wanted this curiosity sated. Was that how Edward first felt? Was that how he fell into that descending spiral of lies?

Guinness scared her. How could a black man like him make her want to abandon all her morals? What spell had he cast on both of them?

A soft knock on the opened door alerted me of Edward's arrival. He looked slightly breathless as if he had ran all the way here. He gave her one look and slowly walked towards her.

She extended her arms out and he fell into them. He squeezed her tightly, afraid that she may disappear if he wasn't fully attached to her. 'I love you," he breathed, burying his face into her hair.

"I love you, too," she sighed. Her feelings were a dangerous concoction that was bubbling, on the verge of exploding.

When she lifted her head, she looked straight at Guinness who had been standing awkwardly by the door. "Come here." She beckoned him over until he was standing directly behind Edward.

"What is going on?" her husband asked with a frown on his face.

She leaned back to look at him. "Is this what you want?"

"B-But… Only if you want it, too. I don't want to force anything on you," he told her.

"You're not forcing me to do anything. Show me the side of you that you've kept a secret from me. I want to know all of you because you know that I already love all of you. I just need to understand this side that I've never seen before. Show me exactly what I'm loving. Sh – " He pressed his lips against her, cutting her off.

She let out a whimper, buckling against him. 'Edward…"

He began to peel away the layers of fabric between them, until their bare skin was pressed tightly against each other. His kisses trailed down the front of her body, into the valley of her cleavage and stopped at her navel where his tongue poked out. He let out a low growl. His teeth raked across her skin, sending shivers up and down her body.

"Guinness…" Her voice was barely audible, but it felt like the loudest thing he had ever heard.

He leaned down, his body embracing his master and his lips upon his mistress. Their warm bodies fuelled the desire that had quickly escalated when he saw them tangled in an intimate display.

She backed off and pulled Edward's face away from her body. "Kiss. I want to see the two of you kiss."

They looked at her with uncertainty before Edward got back on his feet and cupped Guinness' face. There was a sort of roughness in his tough that was typically absent when he was with her. As their lips touched, Edward was in absolute control. He had Guinness groaning and boneless – something she was very familiar with. In bed, Edward was the most confident man in the world. His hands and mouth were magical, but she wanted to experience what Guinness had. She wanted Edward to grab her, bite her, and ravish her.

She trailed her hand down her body and grazed the sensitive bundle of nerves with the lightest touch. A soft moan left her lips, attracting the attention of both men who stared hungrily at her lazily pleasuring herself.

Edward reached down and pulled her out of the chair. She fell straight into his arms between two perfectly toned bodies.

The hesitation between them was beginning to fade as they allowed their desires to take over. "Edward," she gasped when he rubbed himself against her. He pushed her backwards into Guinness, allowing her to feel the bulge that was poking her back. Her head flung back, resting on the other man's chest.

She reached behind her and began to impatiently tug at his pants, but they remained stubbornly stuck.

"I believe the misses wants you naked." Edward grinned at his lover who spent no time undoing the drawstring and dropping his trousers. His loose shirt came off next.

Unlike her, he didn't have many layers on. In those two smooth motions, he was fully naked against her. She could feel his muscles flex before he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Tell me what to do, mistress. I don't want to hurt the baby."

She tilted her head back until his upside down face greeted her. "The midwife said I can safely engage in sexual activities. I'm not going to break and the baby will be fine. Do with me as you would with each other."

His eyes fluttered. He was imagining burying himself into her soft body and pounding inside until she was screaming his name.

Edward raised her hip up, while her entire weight was being supported by Guinness who happily hoisted her up before impaling her on her husband's cock.

She let out a cry as he buried deep inside her. He had to clench his jaw to keep from spilling into her as soon as the head of his member went as far as it could go.

Guinness shuddered when he heard her moan. How long had he been dreaming of this very moment – to have his mistress so beautifully naked against him? A part of him was still wondering if this was truly reality or if he had been executed and been sent to heaven. This was more than he ever deserved.

His master leaned back, taking her with him, leaving her entire backside completely exposed.

He looked quizzically at Edward who gave him a small nod. His master whispered into her ears and she gave him an uncertain response, but she was quickly pacified and the two of them looked at him, waiting.

With a gulp, he grasped on to her hips and slowly entered her. A cry of pain made him quickly jerk back out, but she held on to his wrist when he tried to step away. "No, just give me some time. I… I've never had two before. It'll get better. I know it will." The same thing happened when she had married Edward and they had their first time together. The pain had been worth the world shattering pleasure that followed. She had no doubt this would be the same. " _Please._ "

Hearing the word uttered so breathily at him washed away all the doubts. He slowly eased himself back inside her and when he was halfway in, he nearly came by the sheer tightness of her tunnel. When Edward shifted, he could feel him through the thin membrane.

Guinness let out a shuddering breath. This was too much. "I won't be able to last," he groaned, squeezing his eyes shut. It would be a shame if this all ended so quickly. He wanted this moment to last forever.

Edward sighed. "Me, neither." He gently ran his teeth across her breath and captured her nipple. "We'll be better, next time." He looked lovingly at his wife who kissed him and wiggled her bottom at Guinness, burying him deeper into her.

She moaned, causing the two men to groan in unison. "Move. I'm ready."

Edward shot his lover a look and the two of them began to thrust into her in perfect harmony. Their bodies moved as if they belonged to one completely being.

It didn't take them long to find release. Their cries echoed into the night, telling everyone of their sin, but as it were, they no longer cared.

She curled up against Edward as Guinness cradled her from the back. Between them, she felt tiny. As they pressed against her, she could hear them kissing and tilted her head to look. It was one of the most arousing things she had ever seen and she wished that her husband could've come clean to her sooner. "I love you," she mumbled, rubbing her face against his chest as sleep and exhaustion began to claim her. She drifted off with a hand around the pendant that Guinness had placed upon her.

After that night, Edward felt as if a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders. He never imagined that he could be living this dream of having both his wife and lover. Not to mention, his child was on the way. He was going to make sure to shower the little thing with gifts and lots and lots of love.

As seasons changed and her stomach grew, his lust for her grew with it. It had never crossed his mind that seeing his wife so plump with his child could trigger such a deep desire and he made sure that she was aware of it as he took her on every surface he could get her upon.

By now, the other servants were desensitised by their antics. They would give them a wide berth, unsure when one would strip the other. The only one still complaining was Nina, but it'd be a half-hearted chastise. She was just glad that their lady was well again, especially with the baby on the way. Stress was the last thing she needed.

"Edward!" he suddenly heard his wife scream and quickly broke away from Guinness. The two of them ran towards the sound as fast as possible and found her drenched from the waist down. Her face was one of pure panic. "Edward, what do I do?!"

His heart had leapt to his throat. He tried to call for Nina, but not a word made it out.

Guinness immediately jumped into action and called for the head maid who came running. One look at the scene and she had the lady on the couch, as comfortable as possible. It was too late to call for the midwife. Everyone was running around fetching supplies, while his wife was shouting.

Edward couldn't believe what was happening. He wasn't ready for this, at all. He had long waited for the baby, but not the birthing process.

He kissed the hand that was slowly breaking his. "I love you."

Her contractions seemed to last forever. For hours and hours, he had to see her in pain. Even with Guinness by his side, he had difficulty coping.

"She'll be fine." His lover kissed his neck.

No one was paying any attention to them. They were all too focused on the welfare of their mistress.

When the night disappeared and the sun rose high in the sky, he was jolted awake by a shrill cry. His hand, crushed and numb was still holding on to hers. He couldn't believe that he had fallen asleep!

All thoughts quickly disappeared when he looked at the ting form that was being cleaned by a soft, wet cloth.

"A boy," Nina whispered, crouching down to show him the pink face. His eyes were still closed, but the tiny baby was making the loudest noise he had ever heard.

"He's beautiful." He looked over to his wife who was covered in sweat and exhausted, but he had never seen her more breathtaking. "And he's ours." He kissed her hand one more time before she let go of him.

Nina gently handed her the baby who seemed to sense his mother's presence and wiggled closer to her. "He'll need to feed." With a sharp bark over her shoulder, Nina had everyone else out of the room. With only the four of them let, she had the tired woman take off her dress and helped the baby latch on to her nipple.

The infant was a natural.

Edward found himself jealous of his minutes-old son. What an odd thought…

"What are you going to name him?" Nina asked.

Husband and wife looked at each other. "Michael," they both said at the same time.

Little Michael became the most precious thing in the world for the Mott household. Everyone doted on him as if he was royalty. With his birth, it seemed as if nothing could go wrong.

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

And that it's! This is the end of Edward Mott's story… Unfortunately, I never really thought up a proper plot for him. There was just this sudden compulsion to write this. If any of you are interested to read more about him, I may expand it and write a proper Roanoke story. As of now, I will be working on AHS: Hotel. Be on the lookout for that next week!

Edit: Oops! Forgot it's the holidays! Happy Holidays, everyone!

I will be naming it _Vacant_ _._ Thank you **, anonymouscsifan** and **Mystery Angle** for suggesting it! Thank you as well for reviewing!

 **anonymouscsifan** : I'm pretty excited for the Hotel story, too!

 **Mystery Angle** : I can't wait for Hotel, either. See you guys there!

Thank you to everyone who has favourite and followed this story.

Please, leave a review if you enjoyed this!


	6. Chapter 6

**Warning: As usual, this story has triggering issues.**

 **CHAPTER SIX**

 _September 14, 2015 - Rural North Carolina_

I lay in bed, listening to the television quietly drone on about celebrity gossip. When his name came up, I only managed to resist the urge to glance at the screen for a mere second before staring into his beaming face. He looked so happy as he kissed her with a passion that made my stomach churn.

He knew that camera was on them. He didn't care, not like when we were a couple. He didn't want anyone to know we were together. It felt as if I had been his dirty, little secret.

My eyes stung and those fucking tears came falling all over again. I shouldn't have been feeling this way anymore. It had been well over a year, but ti was as if he had permanently engraved himself into my heart and no matter how I rubbed at it, the mark remained untarnished.

With a scream, I threw the remote control at the television set. The screen immediately shattered in the centre and the entire thing went tumbling down. I could still hear his voice talking to the interviewer and then, _her_ voice joined his.

I curled up in my bed, wondering when it had gone so wrong between us. Hadn't he felt the same connection Id id? Hadn't I given him enough? What more could I have done to have him stay with me?

The phone beside me rang, cutting through the sadness that had plagued me since his departure. "H-Hello?" My voice cracked.

"Madison? Are you crying, again? God damn it! It better not be about that fuckin' bastard!" My agent, Luke Moore, had been there when I fell apart. He had also been there when I stripped myself to change everything I was just to make him happy. "Do I have to come over?"

"No." I didn't want to see anyone. I just wanted to be alone/

"Fuck! I'm coming over!" Loud rustling came from the other end. "Don't you do anything stupid, you hear me?"

I rubbed my tired eyes. "I'm fine, Lucas."

"Stay. Right there. I'll see you, soon." He was about to hand up the phone, but seemed tot hink better of it. "Actually, keep talking to me. I need the company."

"You'll get into an accident! I'll be fine," I sighed.

"No. I have my hands free shit on," he protested. I heard him get into his car and the engine started up.

I knew what he was doing. Not more than once did I find myself waking up on a hospital bed being scolded for being stupid. I didn't know what was wrong with me. Maybe I was just wired wrong. It wasn't something they could just fix with pills. They didn't work. They _never_ worked. I was done with them upping the dose and giving me more and more pills to take. Switching didn't help. They only subjected me to mood swings after mood swings. I was just so tired all the time and it was _all his fault_.

He was a disease I could not be cured of. It didn't matter what anyone else said. It didn't matter what I tried to force myself to think and feel. He was everywhere infecting me.

"Talk to me!" Luke demanded when I fell silent.

"I'm still here," I quietly replied.

I closed my eyes, pressing my cheek down on the cold, tiled floors of the bathroom. The sensation numbed me. It felt good.

Since being publically exposed of having mental issues, my career had become a rollercoaster ride. The publicity was enough for some fashion designers to hire me, while others thought I was going to be a poor role model for the future generations. I didn't blame them. I didn't even like what I did. I only became a model for him because he thought I should go into something more in the lines of his own career. Since I wasn't a particularly good actress, I modelled. I was a little more on the short, petite side, but it wasn't as if I was a runway model. No one needed to know how tall I was as long as the proportions were alright.

…

"I really don't know… You probably don't want all the cameras on you. I mean, you're always so shy and quiet. I'd hate to do that to you." He had momentarily put his script down. "Maybe after you've gotten used to it a little."

"I'm always in front of the cameras these days!" I protested. "I'm a model! Photoshoots are basically all I do!"

"Exactly! Photoshoots are in a controlled environment! They're private with only a few people there!" he argued back. "Those paps are fuckin' crazy! You wouldn't understand. If you say anything wrong, it's going to be the end of my career!"

The stab hurt. It pierced deeply and mercilessly. "So that's it, then? You're worried that I'll say something that will make _you_ look bad. Are you even listening to what _you're_ saying?! If I wanted to do that, I could've done it ages ago! I have no reason to do that. I love you."

He sighed, ruffling his curls. "You know I didn't mean it that way. You wouldn't do it on purpose, but you're not that good with words. You're socially awkward. Before I pushed you into the entertainment industry, you never socialised with anyone! You're always in front of the damn computer doing who knows what!"

I shook my head, not believing what I was hearing. 'I deal with cyber security! Of course, I was always in front of the computer! I didn't go through all those years in university for nothing. And it was _my_ paycheque that supported you while you were still struggling to find gigs!" I had a six figure salary before I threw it all away to pursue something I wasn't even passionate about. I had given up my dream for him! What more did he even want from me?

"And I appreciate that, but you're still not ready for us to go public. It'll do both our careers no good." He was adamant with his decision and every time we argued about it, I'd lose. Maybe he was right. I was just no good with words. Or maybe I just loved him too much to deny him of anything.

I never figured out why he was so opposed to the idea. It wasn't as if I was going to break down or blurt out embarrassing secrets from our childhood. I thought he would've trusted me more than that by now. We have together all through high school and post secondary. I thought he would've known me better by now.

Besides, with my job at the bank as their cyber security tech, I had to be very close-lipped about everything. It was all confidential, even the simplest detail that people discussed in their normal day to day lives, I wasn't allowed to say a word about it. Why did he ever think that I would do anything different with the media?

There was really no reason for him to be so irrational about this, unless… unless…

I swallowed hard and banished the thought. With how distant he had been, lately, my mind tended to wander to all the different possibilities and one would always stand out from the rest.

 _He was cheating on me_.

No matter how hard I tried to talk myself out of that possibility, it would always resurface. The question nagged at me day and night, but I was afraid to ask him. Our relationship was already so rocky. I didn't want this to be the final stake in the coffin.

It wasn't long before I found out that all my fretting didn't even matter. Everyone seemed to know the truth already. I was just too naïve to follow my instincts.

When everything came crashing down on me, I hadn't been prepared. I had hoped for so long that I managed to fool myself into thinking that everything was still alright.

One moment he was there and the next, he was gone.

Somehow, I had gone missing as well and I was still trying to find the pieces that were scattered in all the directions I had been pulled in. I had become nothing but a burden to everyone around me. Luke was the one who was there the most.

HE pushed me to keep going even though all I wanted to do was stay locked up in my room. During my lowest point, I was so medicated that I felt nothing at all. T he numbness had been a God sent reprieve to the pain that constantly held me in its grasp, but it didn't last long. The dose the good doctor put me on wasn't enough anymore and he wasn't willing to increase it on paper, so Id id it myself. I took enough to keep me functional for work. It cleared up all the fluff that distracted me. I hadn't realised just how much I was taking until one night, I didn't wake up the next morning.

Luke had rang and rang the phone, Eventually, he knocked my door down and found me unresponsive. It was the most sleep I had gotten for a long time, but I was also left hospitalised afterwards.

No matter how he tried to keep me away from the media, they had a way of finding out. The moment they caught wind of what I had done, his name popped up and then, the endless calls came.

I had even seen them interview him on television. He was careful to deny everything.

 _Everything_.

It was as if I had been nothing more than a former school mate to him. Our relationship had been reduced to nothing but a speck of the past.

I lost my TV privilege that day when I smashed the mirror and slit my throat. There was so much blood. I still wondered how I had survived. If only they hadn't been making rounds. I should've been keeping time. I should've been smart.

 _About everything_.

…

"Hey! Don't get quiet on me, again!"

I hummed, feeling myself slowly dosing. I was tired, but my mind refused to fully go under. It hovered between sleep and awareness. It was as if my dreams – my nightmares – were being relieved again. They crawled all over my skin and the itch persisted, until I was clawing at my arms. The scars were bothering me. I could feel the blade running down the soft flesh and then the itch of it healing beneath the bandages.

It was driving me crazy.

"Stop!"

Suddenly, his voice didn't sound so far away anymore. Two hands pinned me down, until I was immobile. The sudden restraint put my mind into overdrive as I tried to pick out what was reality and what was created by the chemical imbalance in my brain.

"God damn it, Madison! Did you take anything?!" he shouted, holding my wrists together so that I would stop digging my nails into my soft, fragile flesh. It wasn't my fault that it tore so easily.

My eyes finally snapped open and I saw Luke hovering over me. His hair was a mess. There was a claw mark on his left cheek that looked as if it was about to start bleeding.

When my body went limp, he finally let me go. He was panting heavily, while I stared at him in confusion.

"Why? Why are you doing this to yourself? He doesn't deserve it," he hissed. 'HE doesn't even care if you're alive or not. Stop hurting yourself over that scum!"

I let out a sob. "I don't know how to live anymore. I don't know how to fix this. I'm so confused… I c-can't let him go… Can't. Can't… Can't…"

"You just have to let it go – let _him_ go and then, time will do the rest," he softly told me. "There are people who care about you. Let them help. It'll get better."

I wrapped my arms around him. Ignoring the sting of the wounds and finally allowed him to comfort me. I cried and cried, until there were no tears left. He scooped me up, carrying me back to bed.

"Stay with me?" I mumbled.

He dragged over an armchair and set it by the bed. "Yeah. As if I'm going to leave you by yourself, right now." He crossed his arms and leaned back. His eyes closed, but I could tell that he was not going to be asleep for a long while.

"I'm sorry, Luke…"

"Go to sleep."

"Okay."

…

After that day, I tried again to push through the lingering turmoil and patched myself up. Makeup hid away the remaining marks and covered up the old scars that would forever follow me through the ages.

I had a Go-See to tend to. Luke had to see another client, so I was on my own. It was unfortunate that I was directionally challenged, but somehow, I managed to arrive barely on time. It helped that I always left early to make up for all the wrong turns I knew I was going to make. If only I had the foresight with everything else in my life.

"Hello, I'm Madison Harmon." I gave the tall woman a firm handshake.

"Clarissa Laing. Please, follow me. I have a few sets of clothing I'd like you to try on."

I went through the routine of trying on several sets of clothing and walked up and down the small room, hoping that she wasn't going to see the lingering blemishes on my skin where the concealer had rubbed off.

By the end of the appointment, she gave me a smile and told me to await her call. That was always the hardest part of modelling.

 _Waiting._

 _Always waiting._

With my old job, I only had to pass the initial interview and then, I was done. Modelling was like an endless queue of interviews and waiting. More than likely, there was always going to be that one model who was better.

I wondered if I should just go back to cyber security. Surely, that had to be a big step towards my recovery. I had to leave this one last memory of him behind.

I was going to have to discuss this with Luke. He would know what to do. I didn't want to let this go and then, lose it all. Besides, with my face and name attached to all the mud and exaggerations, companies may not want to hire me anymore.

As I walked by a movie poster, I stared into his face. He looked so beautiful. His dark eyes were like molten lava. They portrayed the deepest of desire with a promise to fulfill them. His lips were curled into a smirk, teasing and inviting.

I took another step towards him and then, I felt the impact as my body went flying through the air. I felt so weightless. It was a nice change.

When I came crashing back down, my world turned to black and I finally let go.

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

Sooooo… After much contemplation, I had decided to continue this story with the main plot of Roanoke Nightmare told in the view of Madi who is experiencing some… technical difficulties.

Thank you **BlackDragonTalom, Bookie Twiling, Jezabelle31415926** , guest ( **Guest, Guest, AFAN** )

 **Guest** : Thank you! I'm so sorry it took me so long to reply to your review, but at least I had Hotel done? :D

 **Guest** : There will be more Edward in this story, no worries!

 **BlackDragonTalom** : I've decided to end the past in Chapter Five, but I will be writing more on Roanoke Nightmare and more on Edward Mott, as well!

 **Brookie Twiling** : Hehe… Not complete, after all! Teehee… Hope you're awake now *pokes*

 **Jezabelle31415926** : Aww… Thank you! I love them together, too! Soooooooo more to come!

 **AFAN** : OoooH! I haven't heard from you for so long! I hope you're doing well!

Thank you as well to everyone who has favourited and followed this story.

Please, leave a review if you enjoyed it!


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

Rory was having the time of his life. His career was on the up and up and he also got married! It was all thanks to Audrey. She had been his lucky star and he really couldn't be happier.

They were now at some weird "haunted" house in the middle of nowhere to shoot some paranormal documentary. It was like some honeymoon for them since the producer was so chill. Sidney James gave them plenty of down time just to have a feel of the house. They were supposed to re-enact some weird thing and he was this bisexual guy from the past who had mental issues. At least his character was rich. He really didn't care much for the white poofy wig, though.

His character, Edward Phillippe Mott, was apparently married to this brunette lady. They had a kid, but then he also had some gay lover on the side. He really didn't mind kissing another man. It was a strange new sensation that was just quirky enough for him to like it.

Unfortunately, his role wasn't that big here. After filming all his scenes, he was free to relax in the parts of the house that wasn't being used. With Audrey's time being completely consumed by her big role, he was starting to get bored. There was absolutely nothing to do.

The television was also old and only had the most basic channels. Even they would tend to malfunction and turn to static for long minutes. Five of the five channels were news channels, so he settled on… news.

At least it was some noise to keep him from going crazy, but he really didn't care for the politics or any upcoming elections. Why was the world so dull?

 _"And in other news, a young woman was struck by a car earlier this morning. Twenty-five year old, Madison Harmon, was found lying on the streets at this very spot. She is now in the hospital in critical conditions._

 _"There was no foul play found. Witnesses say that the car had the right of way. This is a reminder that pedestrians also have to follow traffic lights. Back to you, Mike."_

The screen went to a middle-aged man, but Rory had already tuned them out. His mind was racing as he recalled the small brunette who had been with him for most of his life. At one point in his life, he thought that she would be wearing his ring by now.

In high school, he finally had the courage to ask her out and he was more than thrilled that his best friend actually felt the same for him. It had been a dream come true. Who didn't want to spend an eternity with their best friend?

Everything had gone so well when they were young. Even through college and university, things couldn't have gone more smoothly. She was taking computer sciences and he was taking film and theatre. They spent all their free time together. He never thought that anything would change. The pieces had fit so perfectly together.

It wasn't until after they graduated did the problems arise, at least for him. She had immediately been snatched up by one of the biggest banks and the money poured in. They lived comfortably on her salary alone, but that had been the problem.

He had struggled looking for jobs. Everything that he heard about Hollywood was true. It was a dog eat dog world and he was at the very bottom of the pecking order. Day after day, he'd come home empty handed, but she never minded. She'd always greet him with a wide grin and kissed him in a way that made him melt. She was his everything, but she was also the reason he was teased profusely by his friends and colleagues.

She was working a man's job. She was making all the money. He was useless. He was the freeloader.

NO matter how much he tried to brush those words away, they kept coming back, echoing in his head until one day, he let it all out.

HE had kept it in for too long. T he dam burst and there was no way to stop it. His words came out like acid, they burned and they burned deep. It was meant to hurt. It was meant to last.

She took it all in strides. He knew how much she loved he job and he loved that she enjoyed it, but he had allowed his jealousy to get the better of him and of course, she had always been the more understanding of the two.

So when she came home one day, saying that she had given her two weeks' notice, he felt ashamed. What right did he have to take her passion away from her?

When he tried to talk her out of it, she merely brushed him off and smiled at him, but he could tell then and there that it was going to be something she was going to regret.

Her money lasted them for many months to come, while he was finally finding his footing and she was looking for a new career. One of his friends jokingly mentioned that she could be a model if she was taller.

He mentioned it to her and she began to look for work in that field. It was a struggle. He would watch her come home exhausted and with her self-esteem torn to shreds. It pained him to see black bags forming below her eyes and her body losing more and more weight to fit the stereotypical model figure.

This wasn't what he wanted.

Most of the time, she'd come back so tired that she'd go straight to bed and fall asleep for the entire evening before leaving at the crack of dawn for her next set of G-Sees. He rarely got to spend any more time with her and he knew it was his fault. If only he hadn't been so selfish. If only he had never opened his big, fat mouth.

The only good thing that happened was that his name was really starting to gain fame. He was finally able to say that he could support the both of them with his paycheque. This was also the time he met Audrey Tindall.

The older woman had showered him the ropes. He thought she was motherly at first and he welcomed her kinds. He'd accompany her to dinners and fundraisers and in return, she helped him get some of the most sought out auditions.

He really couldn't say when that platonic relationship became something more. Perhaps it was because he and Madi rarely saw each other anymore. Perhaps it was because he wanted to wash his hands of what he had done – strip an intelligent woman of her self-worth just to appease his ego. Or perhaps he had simply fallen out of love with her.

So why did it hurt so much hearing about her fall? He had been obsessed with following any news about her. The bad would often outweigh the good. She wasn't cut out for this. He had tried to explain it to her before everything blew up. He only wanted to protect her because he knew how vicious the tabloids could be… because he had often been subjected to it himself, but it had all gone wrong. He only managed to drag her further into the chaos and when she found out about his infidelity, he knew that he had broken her.

 _The hurt._

 _The betrayal._

And then, the light disappeared from her eyes.

He thought she was going to go back to her old job after he left. He thought without him, he'd be able to stop poisoning her life, but he only managed to fuck up some more. He couldn't face her after what he had done, so he followed her from afar.

Time and time again, the media had detailed how she had "once again tried to kill herself for attention because she couldn't find fame any other way." Every article pushed the dagger deeper and deeper into his heart.

So many times he had wanted to go see her.

So many times he backed out.

In fact, he had stopped outside her door several times. He'd even stand outside and watcher through the windows. He knew it was wrong. He knew if he was caught, it would only hurt them both further, but it wasn't until Audrey found out did he stop.

She scolded him before rolling her eyes and went back to reading her script. She always seemed to make him feel like a child. It wasn't just the age gap. It was just… _everything_.

Their sex life was good, but he found it difficult to connect with her emotionally. She was always so detached. She also didn't have the same interests as him. Sometimes, it was as if all they had was sex.

But when they went on their third Vegas trip, he filled himself with alcohol and asked her to marry him. It was a night he could vaguely remember, but he knew that she had said yes because the next morning, he had woken up with a pounding headache and the sight of his grandmother's ring on her finger. He had been saving it for Madi before, but he figured that it didn't matter anymore. It wasn't as if she would ever want to see him again.

Besides, he couldn't just divorce Audrey after a few hours. The media was going to find out. She was going to be furious and take it out on his career. What was left of his life was going to be over.

So he went along with it. He lived this new life as Rory Monahan – Tindall. It was as if he was suddenly watching this from another perspective.

He was watching this perfect actor play the perfect husband with a perfect wife in a perfect life. He convinced himself that everything was fine and dandy.

"Rory, what's wrong?" Audrey had finally finished with her scenes for the day and was now only clad in a thin robe. "Is there anything I can do to turn that frown upside down?" She opened up the robe to show him her naked body.

For a woman near her forties, she was outwardly beautiful in all the right places. In fact, she was more fit than a lot of the younger actresses he had worked with. She wasn't fat. She wasn't skinny. She was perfectly toned.

Madi had a body like that once before she lost all her weight. It was either the pressure of modelling or the stress of doing something she didn't enjoy or both. Either way, he didn't like to think about it, but found it hard keeping her from his head.

"Where has your mind gone, Rory? I'm all naked and ready for you and you're miles away!" She threw the robe away and donned on a white dress. "IF you don't want to have some fun, I'll go find my own fun elsewhere!"

"No, Audrey!" He stood up and wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sorry. I've just been a bit stressed out, lately. Why don't we have some champagne and relax a little?" He raised the bottle that Sidney had left for them. It was complimentary with the job and a cheap compensation for interrupting their honey moon. He was actually relieved when it happened. He didn't have anything planned and the regret had already settled at the bottom of his stomach, refusing to leave.

If this was how he felt now, he wondered how long he was going to last.

He downed the bubbly quickly, feeling the alcohol diffuse through his empty stomach and into his bloodstream. Once he was properly inebriated, he pulled her towards him and gave her a sloppy kiss.

She giggled back at him, stroking his red head and pulling at his shirt. "You're so pretty, Rory. Aren't you glad I plucked you away from that bony girl?"

He closed his eyes, willing the alcohol to dull away the pain. "Don't talk about her. Let me think of only you."

She had no problem with that and he allowed himself to fall back into his comfort zone. He liked sex. Sex was good. All he had to do was close his eyes and just _feel_.

A secret he would never tell anyone – a secret that he would even refuse to admit to himself – was that he'd often imagine the tiny brunette, but she would still have the life of a young woman full of passion before he had taken it all away.

…

In a blink of an eye, the season was done. It was only five episodes long and he actually found himself missing the quiet house. With the television off, he was able to pull himself away from the media and clear his mind.

The moment he returned home, however, he went on his computer and searched for her name. There had been no updates and he shouldn't have been surprised. She wasn't particularly well known. The media was already raving about My Roanoke Nightmare. The only thing remaining of her was in reference to him.

He felt as if he should've been happy that he had a better career than her, now. Wasn't that what drove them apart? Wasn't that what drove her to give up her own lifestyle to accommodate him? But it didn't make him feel any better. He felt like scum.

No matter how his "friends" congratulated him with his success, he felt as if he had left the best parts of his life behind, leaving only an actor to play the part. That was exactly what he did. He gave up everything to pursue this dream, but it was really turning out to be a nightmare.

He wasn't happy.

This wasn't what he wanted.

For the next few months, he laid low, feeling more exhausted than he had been for a while. The five-part documentary had been an absolute success. He had brought in interviews after interviews – most with Audrey, some without.

The days blended together, until he began to ignore his phone. Every time it rang, there was a sort of dread that made him quickly turn it off, but then, he'd turn it back on.

A part of him was hoping that she would one day ring him. He never changed his phone number, but he noticed that she did. Clearly, she wanted nothing more to do with him, but he still hoped.

HE just never thought he was ever going to see her, again.

"Hey, man. The documentary was a success! They want a sequel! I've faxed over the new script. Give it a read and then, we'll be heading off to film in a week! See you there, buddy!" Sidney's voice message was straight to the point, just as it always was.

"I'm in New York, right now! Just have a few more things to do and then, I'll meet you back at the creepy house, alright? Ta!" Audrey sounded as if she was having the time of her life without him. Sometimes, he wondered if she only married him to make herself feel younger.

With a shake of his head, he went to read the script.

And before he knew it, the taxi was bringing him back to the country side.

He knocked on the door, tapping his feet impatiently.

When the door opened, he stared wide-eyed at the brunette who greeted him with a familiar smile. "Hello, there! You're the second one here!"

"M-Madi?!"

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

Thank you **Mystery Angle, WickedlyMinx** , guests ( **Guest, anonymouscsifan, Guest** ) for reviewing!

 **Guest** : Welcome back! It's so nice to hear from you here! In terms of this story, it's separate from Hotel for the most part. It should at least be enough to make this a standalone story.

In terms of the first part of the story with Edward, well… That's up to you. It's _possible_. Anything's possible in AHS :P Hehe…

 **Mystery Angle** : Muahahahaha!

 **anonymouscsifan** : I've been saving the episodes so far for Apocalypse and rewatching Roanoke, trying to find inspiration xD. I totally agree about leaving Madison out. Urk… Season 6 is my least favourite season of all in the AHS series, so you're not alone there! I hope I won't disappoint you with what I have planned!

 **Guest** : Thank you!

 **WickedlyMinx** : I hope this chapter cleared it up a little!

Thank you as well to everyone who has favourited and followed this story.

Please, leave a review if you enjoyed this!

 _Edit : Thanks anonymouscsifan for pointing out the spelling mistakes!_


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

I woke up to ringing in my ears and a dull ache drilling into my head. The first thing I noticed was that I wasn't in my own bedroom and then realising that the ringing was actually the steady beep of the heart monitor beside me.

What happened? How did I end up here?

"Madison?" A nurse came in with a gentle smile. "Hey, you're awake. I'll quickly call the doctor over and then, we can answer a few questions. I'm sure you have a lot, right now."

I touched my head, feeling the bandages there. On the opposite side of the heart monitor were a few cards, stuff animals, flowers, and balloons.

Reaching over, I squeezed a brown teddy against my chest. The little thing was a contained fluff of comfort.

"Madison, hello." The doctor came in with a clipboard in his hands. "I'm . How are you feeling?"

"C – " My voice cracked and I tried to clear my throat, but it felt like I was rubbing sandpaper together.

"Here." He helped me sit up and handed me a glass of water. "Slowly."

"W-What happened? I don't really remember what h-happened." I clung on to the teddy, hoping that it could somehow give me the answers I needed.

"Why don't we start with what you _can_ remember? Do you know who you are? How old you are? The year?"

"I'm Madison Harmon. I'm twenty-five and it's 2015," I told him. Those facts came easily, but when I tried to delve into my mind for more, it was as if I was grasping at thin air. "I don't remember much else. What happened to me? Why can't I remember? What's wrong with me?!"

"Shh… It's alright. We can help you." He was taking down notes as he spoke to me and it really wasn't making me feel any better. "You were in an accident and you've sustained some brain damage. It's nothing too serious, but you are going to have a hard time remembering for a while. It will come to you eventually. There's no need to force it."

He called for the nurse who rolled in a stack of books and magazines. "Relax a little. Calm your mind. We've already contacted someone to come see you and when you're ready, we'll give you the discharge papers."

When he was gone, I picked idly at the books. I didn't want to fill my head with fictional tales when I couldn't even find my own story.

"Madison? Madison!"

I looked up to see a blond man who looked as if he had seen better days. His golden hair was a mess on top of his head and there were dark bags beneath his eyes. I hoped that I hadn't been the cause of that.

"Luke!" His name rolled off my tongue without even a thought.

"Holy shit!" I thought you were never going to wake up! What did I tell you about doing stupid things? Do words go in one ear and then out the other?" he rambled on until I let out a hoarse laugh and then, he stopped to give me a shocked look.

"What?"

"You're looking better than you have for a while. The nurse told me about your memories, but I didn't think it would change you that much." He sat down on the small, plastic chair by the bed.

"Is that a bad thing?" I didn't want to somehow lose myself and become a stranger to everyone.

"No. No. It's great. _You're_ great." When he smiled, I felt my heart flutter.

I had to take a moment to remember who he was to me. He was my agent – my best friend, but we weren't anything more than that. HE was also the only one I trusted in this big city. "Can I go home, now? I don't like it here."

He nodded excitedly and called for the nurse who happily gave us the discharge papers along with a prescription of a list of new and old medications.

While we were leaving in his car, he told me all about what I had missed, but nothing seemed to explain the underlying sadness I always felt whenever I tried to remember my past.

There was something he wasn't telling me, but I wasn't excited to find out what because I knew that it was the reason why I had gotten into the accident and why there was a lingering sadness in me.

After I was physically recovered, Luke began to line my days up with auditions and Go-Sees. I did my best to ignore all the looks of pity and smiled at all the well wishes.

Surprisingly, the jobs kept coming. I even had a few runway shows before Luke informed me that a director was hoping to see me for an audition. He didn't say exactly what it was for, but after I read off his audition script, he immediately welcomed me on board with a wide, unassuming smile.

It had been the least stressful audition I had ever gone to. He must've really liked what he saw. Maybe I fit the character profile he was looking for.

When I told Luke of the good news, he happily congratulated me. Apparently, I had never been particularly successful with acting jobs. It made me a little nervous, but if Sidney was alright with me, I saw no reason to fret.

Everything was going so well, until one day, Luke burst into my home in a frenzy. He was going a mile a minute and I had absolutely no idea what he was saying at all.

"Wait! Wait! Slow down! You're not making any sense!" I exclaimed.

He took in a deep breath before reiterating everything in a more comprehensible pace. "I made a mistake. I should've done more research before we signed the contract. I'm sure I can talk us out of it. We might have to pay a small fee, but I'll cover it. It's my fault. I'm sure I can help them find someone else. I swear, I didn't know when he came to me. Someone told me about the role and said it was going to be perfect for you. I should've looked more into it. I'm so, so sorry."

I blinked. He wasn't making any sense. 'What are you sorry for? It's just some documentary. I don't even have a very big role. Besides, I really want to do this. Maybe it's exactly what I need to jumpstart my career."

"You don't understand!" he groaned, wearing down my floor with his incessant pacing. "You're going to kill me when you remember!"

I frowned. "Is it something illegal? I don't want to get mixed up with things like that."

"No!" he exclaimed as if I had blasphemed. "Of course not!"

"Then I see no reason to worry! Whatever it is, I'm sure it'll turn out fine. Let me do this, alright? I'm a big girl. I can handle myself." I smiled and pulled him into a hug. "Thank you for always looking out for me, though. I really appreciate it."

When I stepped back, he kept a hand at the small of my back. "Someone has to." He brushed back my hair and began to lean in.

My breath became caught in my throat. I could only stare as he drew closer and closer, until I let out a gasp when they touched mine. They were so soft and warm.

Before I could do anything, he jumped back. Sorry! I – I didn't mean to… I mean… I was just caught up in the moment and – "

I reached out and pulled him back, crashing our lips together. He let out a muffled cry of surprise, but quickly held me closer, deepening the kiss.

This time, when we broke apart, we were both flushed and panting. "Wow… I've always wanted to do that."

I laughed. My heart was pounding in my chest. "Stay here, tonight?"

He mutedly nodded, but a wide grin was on his face.

"Let's not think about what's going to come and just enjoy the moment." Who knew when another accident was going to occur and I was going to end up losing them?

Our relationship took off quickly and passionately. He was the most wonderful man I knew and I was happy to call him mine.

We went to he set together. The house was hard to miss. It was large and slightly run down. It had an aura of mystery radiating out of its walls. Sidney was there to meet us. Their equipment vans were all parked outside, but I didn't see any of the other actors around.

"Hey, Madison!" The brunet male grinned, waving us over. "Welcome! Welcome! You're one of our only new casts, but that's what makes you special. You're going to give this series the oomph that will take it to the next level!"

I flushed. "Thank you for giving me this opportunity. I hope you don't mind that my agent is here, as well? H-he also helps me with my meds and such." I was a little embarrassed with the slew of medication I had to take. A lot of it were from before the accident, but because the dose had been so high before, the doctors thought it'd be better that I start to taper off because they believed that I was good enough to start a new life without them.

"Oh, that's perfectly fine! The more the merrier!" He gestured to a runner and the young man handed him two cameras. "Here. We'll be doing some shooting and re-enactments, but it's mainly going to be a documentary of _your_ experiences in the house. Have some extra memory cards, too. Record anything you think is interesting!"

I nodded, fidgeting with the sleek device in my hand.

"Wonderful! Do you need help getting your stuff inside? If not, you can go pick any room you like. It pays to be the first to arrive!"

"We're good. Thank you." Luke took our bags and I fought the urge to run in like a child.

I turned the camera on and looked into it. "Hello! Madison Harmon here!" I turned so that both Luke and I were in the same frame. 'That's Luke Moore – my agent, my best friend, and confidante! He's the best!"

Luke raised an eyebrow. "I'm the best bell boy maybe." He raised the bags in his hands. Two of them were mine. I may have over packed a little, but we were in the middle of nowhere with questionable locations to do laundry.

"This is the first day. I'm on the set for the sequel of My Roanoke Nightmare: Return to Roanoke! Three Days in Hell! Sounds spooky. I'm guessing we'll probably be here longer with all the other stuff we have to do."

I walked into the house, looking at the interior in wonderment. It was old with creaky wooden floors and peeling wallpaper. "Let's do a house tour before anyone else arrives!"

I went through every room like a tornado – touching everything and talking animatedly to the camera. I had done several video blogs before and gained a handful of loyal viewers. IF Sidney allowed it, I'd probably upload small clips for them to watch. That was… if there was internet here…

"Come on, Luke! This one! I want this room!" I was pointing excitedly at it before running in. It wasn't the biggest one out of the lot, but it had the best view. The grassy field went on forever and I could see a bit of the forest beyond it.

He finally dropped the luggage with a heavy sigh. "Finally! I thought I was going to lose my arm!"

I giggled, running over to kiss him. "I guess I should've gotten us a room first, huh?" The poor man had followed me around, while I ran in and out through every door. "Guess what, guys? He's also the best boyfriend ever!"

I loved calling him my boyfriend. There were some issues that came with being intimate with my agent, but it wasn't anything we couldn't deal with.

He laughed. "Yeah… Yeah…"

I took my bags from him and pushed them carelessly into a corner. "Let's continue exploring!"

I dragged him around the yard where the crew was still talking. Sidney had set up the scene to look as if it had come out of the olden days with the Lost Colony.

"Wow…" I watched them work until the sun began to set before we went in for dinner. I was surprised that the others hadn't arrived, yet. Perhaps we were just super early.

Just as I thought that, there was a knock on the door and I raced down, swinging the door opened with far too much enthusiasm. "Hello, there! You're the second one here! Well… third… Kinda?"

He was a very attractive young man with bottle red hair (because there was no way hair that vibrant exists naturally). His chocolate brown eyes were wide with shock when he saw me. Perhaps I had come on too strong, but what he said after made me freeze.

"Madi?!" he exclaimed. He took a step forward as if he was going to touch me, but I quickly moved back.

Alarm bells were going off at the back of my mind. He knew me. I didn't know him, but he knew me and I couldn't remember him at all. Were we close? Should I greet him as I would an old friend?

"Madison, come here!" I turned to see Luke with a glare on his face and a hand extended towards me.

I gave him a puzzled look before standing by his side. "What's wrong? I think he might be someone from my past. Do you know him?"

I turned back to the redhead just in time to see his face fall. 'What? This isn't funny!" he shouted.

Confusion raged in my mind. I didn't understand why he seemed so offended. Surely, we couldn't have been _that_ close if seeing him didn't trigger any memories at all.

"Madison, I found some ice cream in the freezer – chocolate, your favourite. Why don't you get some before the others eat it all?" Luke gently told me.

I gave him a huff. This was part of the secret that he hadn't been willing to tell me. I knew he wouldn't be keeping it from me unless it was for my own good, but it was still frustrating! "Luke…"

" _Please_ , Madison."

"Fine…" I let out a puff of air and went over to the kitchen. I heard the front door close and knew that they were talking outside. What was so important that I couldn't even hear a word of it?

Deciding that ice cream _was_ a good idea, I dug in straight from the carton. If they were going to be like this, then I wasn't going to share any of the cold, creamy, chocolaty goodness!

…

Luke pushed him roughly out of the house.

"Hey, what the fuck, man?!" Rory pushed back. "What did you do to her? Did you brainwash her or something?"

"You, listen. She doesn't need you fuckin' up her life anymore! She's finally better," Luke hissed.

"Doesn't explain why she suddenly sounds like she doesn't know me!" he growled back. Seeing her stare at him as if he was a stranger had been a dagger straight through his heart. That was his childhood friend, his ex-girlfriend, the woman he thought he would always be with…

He watched Luke's jaw clench and unclench. "You know that accident she had recently? I know you know about it. They dug up your relationship, while she was still recovering and you're narcissistic enough to read anything that's about you."

"Yeah…" he mumbled, looking away and ignoring the jibe. What could he deny? It was all true.

"Well, she lost her memories. Some of it has come back, but she's still missing a large chunk of it. The doctors think her brain is suppressing those memories because they've become too painful. You know which ones those are. You know what you've done to her."

He couldn't meet the other man's eyes. It was for the better, wasn't it? He could finally clear his conscience if she wasn't destroying herself anymore because of her.

 _Right?!_

"S-She looks… She looks better…" he weakly admitted.

Without him, she was starting to look like her old self, again. The light had returned to her beautiful blue eyes.

He swallowed.

If that was what it took…

He was willing to do anything just to have her better.

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

 **Minor spoilers for AHS: Apocalypse below.**

Thank you guests (anonymouscsifan, Guest, Guest) for reviewing!

 **anonymouscsifan** : I really didn't like Audrey in this, but I hated most of the characters in this season. Thanks for pointing out the spelling errors! My fingers tend to not work in the order I want it to sometimes… I'm one episode behind on AHS right now Hahah!

The main thing I think about whenever I watch this season is… How the heck am I going to fit it into my own series? I had decided to go against cannon in regards to something very crucial in Vision LOL

I was really happy to see Constance. I think she's still my favourite character for Jessica Lange, but I really like her in general. I didn't really feel like there's a point in having Madison Montgomery in the Murder House. I kind of wish they told the episode in a different way, but that could just be me hating Madison Montgomery. I also wish they showed a little more of Tate in the Murder House afterwards and how he managed to save Vivienne from what I assume is something like Hell Fire.

 **Guest** : I love it when you ask questions! It means that you're actually thinking about what I'm writing about and also making me think about what I wrote.

 **Guest** : Umm… I do tend to keep Madi's appearance pretty vague, but whenever I mention it, she has brown hair, blue eyes, and pale skin. She's relatively short and not particularly shapely. Yeaaaaah… That's about it.

For the episode you were referring to, I really liked that they gave Constance a bigger scene. I'm always going to complain that there's not enough Tate because I love him and he'll always be my favourite. I enjoyed knowing more about Michael, but… I still don't like Madison and I'm not huge on them pushing Violet and Tate back together the way they did. It seemed really forced.

Thank you as well to everyone who has favourited and followed this story.

Please, leave a review if you enjoyed this.


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER NINE**

By the time the two of them came back, the entire carton was gone. Luke pouted, but snatched an apple from the basket instead. "So what was that about?" I asked him. "Who was he?"

I hadn't even caught the other man's name.

He sighed. "Rory Monahan. He's twenty-six and he's married to Audrey Tindall who's going to be arriving here, soon, I'm guessing."

"Oh!" Audrey Tindall. Her name sounded familiar. She was a British actress, wasn't she? From what I recalled, she was probably around forty. That was quite an age gap, but who was I to judge? "That's… nice…"

Luke sat down beside me and kissed my cheek. "Don't worry about them. I think I hear a few more people arriving. Want to go greet them now or later?"

I shrugged. "We'll go see them now. I don't want them to catch me in some awkward moment later."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Awkward? Does this moment include me?"

"Maaaybe!" I sang, running off as he tried to catch me.

My laughter rang through the house, until I stopped, spotting the new additions. They were all staring back at me. "H-Hi!" It was strange to think that they all already knew each other and I was the odd one out.

"Hello, dear." The woman with long blond hair stepped over and gave me a big, warm hug. I happily returned it, elated to find that they weren't going to simply shun me.

The rest introduced themselves. I could recognise quite a few from television, but since the accident, Luke had been limiting my media access. Sometimes, I felt like a child with parental control on everything.

I found out that Shelby and Matt were the owners and most of the first season had been based on their experiences here. Shelby was a rather nervous woman, who really didn't seem like she wanted to be here, but she was kind and she made me feel welcomed.

The only two who seemed distant were Rory and Audrey. I could feel the British woman glare daggers into the back of my head. Perhaps it was my role in the re-enactments, but surely, Rory had to be intimate on screen before with other women. There was really no reason for her to feel threatened in any way. Besides, we were both happily in love.

"You don't understand! This house really _is_ haunted," Shelby argued with Sidney. "None of us are safe here!"

The producer rolled his eyes. "Yeah. Yeah. It's going to be three days, maybe a week. The rest of the production will be done in the editing studio."

"But – "

"Look. How about you take this and start recording. If you see anything strange or dangerous, I'll stop production." Sidney handed everyone a small camera. "Now, we're going to start with the first scene before we lose our nice sunset glow."

Rory and I were already in our costumes and made-upped up. The dress felt strange. It was heavy with many layers. The royal blue hue matched the aristocratic character I was to play.

"Ready?"

We took our places.

I was standing at the porch, staring into the dark forest with a wistful look on my face.

"Alright. Action!"

"Love, where do you run off to every night?" I asked him, staring straight into his dark eyes. "Sometimes, it feels as if you're never around anymore. It's as if I've married a ghost."

He sighed, touching a loose tendril of hair that had fallen out of my updo. "I'm a busy man. There is much to be done. You can't possibly think it's anything else?" There was a sadness to his voice that made me truly think that he was Edward Mott.

I shook my head. "It's just so lonely sometimes. I've missed you."

"Then shall I show you exactly how much I love you?" he purred, pulling me against his chest. I could feel how toned he was. Each muscle was defined and rippled against me.

My heart skipped a beat when I felt his lips brushed my ear. "Let's bring this to the bedroom, so the help doesn't see. I'd really hate for anyone else to see you in an undressed state."

I giggled as he scooped me into his arms.

As we made it through the door, Sidney called, "Cut!"

We had to run the scene several times over before it was brought to the bedroom. Each time he whispered into my ears, I felt my heart melt. Was this his natural charm? I knew that I loved Luke, so this feeling… I had to push it away. I had to be professional! Besides, he was a married man. I would never be the other woman!

"I want you to tear her dress off here. It should rip easily. The dress was made just for the this occasion," Sidney told us.

"Is this really necessary?" Audrey stepped up to glare at the man. "What exactly is this supposed to bring to the show? Are we going to turn this into soft porn?"

"Look, Edward Mott needs to be more complex! I need to show that despite how much he loved his wife and child, he had still fallen pretty to lust and curiosity," Sidney explained, completely unfazed by the raging woman.

"Really? And you think that _that_ is going to be the factor to bring in the ratings?" Audrey growled.

"I'm the producer and director here. My first instalment was a hit success! Let me do my work, while I pay your pr3etty face to _shut up_!" Sidney waved to his camera man. "Make sure to capture their faces." He, then, turned to us. "Emote! I want to actually believe that the two of you are in love!"

Rory picked me back up bridal-style. He let out a soft sigh. Did he hate this as much as Audrey did?

It didn't matter. Once the camera started rolling, it was going to be perfect. Sidney wouldn't accept anything less.

"Action!"

He threw me on to the bed and jumped on top of me. His hands grabbed at the dress, easily tearing it off my body. I was left with the very modest underclothes.

"Edward…" I moaned, arching my back to grind up against him. 'Please… Show me how much you love me." I was surprised to find a sizable bulge tenting up his trousers. Had that always been there or had I been the cause of it?

"Gladly, my sweet." He leaned down and captured my lips. His hands were all over my body. He seemed to know exactly where to touch to make me squirm and pant. "I want you to scream for me."

If I wasn't careful, I knew that that was definitely going to happen. Somehow, he was able to easily figure me out. He knew how to unwind me and make me come undone.

"You're far too overdressed, husband." I threw his coat aside and then, went about unbuttoning his shirt. Beneath all the fabric, he was even more toned than I imagined.

He pressed his lower body against mine, whispering words that I could barely make out in my ears. They were words of soft nothings.

Had that been in the script? I couldn't recall anymore. All I could focus on was how he made me feel.

His hand trailed down my body and rubbed the inside of my thigh. I let out a cry, buckling my hips. "Please…"

"Okay! That's it! That is not on the script!" Audrey screamed, hitting the papers and running to the bed to pull Rory off.

I stayed on the mattress in a daze. It felt as if my body was still singing for him. This feeling was so overwhelming. I barely registered Luke sitting down beside me.

"Hey." He stroked my hair. 'You don't have to do this."

I blinked. "I… I think I just need a break…"

With shaky hands, I put the dress back on, being careful that it wasn't going to fall off, again, and walked off.

The cool evening air slowly cleared my head. With the heated daze gone, I felt guilt. It was as if I had cheated on Luke and I had done it right in front of his eyes. Maybe acting really wasn't' for me if I couldn't separate my own emotions from the emotions of my character.

"Madi?"

I turned to see Rory at the doorway. His shirt was back on, but he was missing the white wig and blue coat.

"Hi." I quickly turned away before he could trap me, again. My heart was already thumping wildly in my chest. I fought to clear my mind, a dull ache forming – poking the inside of my skull.

He took his spot beside me. "I'm sorry about before. I got caught up in the moment and it just got out of hand." He ran his fingers nervously through his hair. "So… Uh… Sidney's going to just take what he has and move on from the scene, since it was making everyone else uncomfortable."

"Oh, that's good…" My face was flushed.

He was too close.

"Madi." He gripped my arm and turned me towards him. The dull ache became a hammer. "I – Are you okay?"

I clenched my eyes shut, bending over and holding my head.

"Get away from her!" I heard Luke snarl. He pulled me against his chest. "What did I tell you before? After scenes, you will _not_ approach her. She is not your toy!"

"I never – "

I was led away. The door slammed behind us, cutting off whatever Rory was going to say.

"It's alright," Luke murmured. "You'll be fine."

Once we were in our room, he handed me my pills and a glass of c old water. "Sidney's willing to forgo further filming of the scene. He wants to wrap it up with the last one and then, after the three days are over, he doesn't mind if we left first."

"Okay…" I didn't understand why my head was hurting so much. It was fine until I was alone with Rory. Were my memories of him causing this? Why couldn't I remember?

It wasn't long before Sidney came by and rushed me back on set. The makeup artist did a quick patch up job before sending me off.

Rory was already in the bedroom. Audrey was speaking quietly and furiously at me. When she saw me, she immediately sneered.

Luke gave me a quick kiss and an encouraging push. I had to do this. I had to be professional. _Be. Professional._

I took off my dress and lay on the bed. He followed suit, stripping his shirt. Laying his head down on my stomach, he turned to me. I had to fight to keep myself passive.

I needed to separate the character from the person. I chanted this several times in my head before Sidney signalled for us to start.

This time, we didn't have the other cast as audience. Only the bare minimum remained because Sidney didn't want any more interruptions.

I placed my hand in his hair, slowly stroking the wig. Edward Mott was such a vain character. Even in bed, he refused to take off the ridiculous thing.

He looked at me, his eyes filled with unadulterated adoration. "I love you," he whispered. He slithered up to kiss my bare shoulder.

I sighed, tugging him up for a proper kiss on the lips. He felt so right against me. 'I love you, too." The words seemed to ring true, but were those feelings of Mrs. Edward Mott or was this my own? How was I able to differentiate between the two?

"I…" He hesitated. "I know I've hurt you. I know I haven't been the perfect husband. I should never have fallen in love with G-Guinness… He was there when you were pregnant and before I knew it, I was already in too deep…"

I swallowed. Something about his words seemed to touch a hidden memory from within me. "I really wished you'd stop the affair. Everyone is talking… The way they look at me with such pity! I absolutely despise it! Can't I be enough for you? Can't our son be enough? What must I do to make you faithful to me and only me?"

He opened his mouth before closing it. With a gulp, he steeled up his courage to reply. N-nothing. You're perfect the way you are. TI's me. It's always been me. You deserve so much better, but I'm too selfish to let you go."

I felt tears beginning to cloud my vision. "I d-don't want you to let me go, but it hurt so m-much. I love you, Edward. You don't understand what you are d-doing to m-me…"

The tears were real. The emotions were real. I was breaking down on camera and Sidney thought I was just the greatest actress ever, but that wasn't it. The more time I spent with Rory, the more these feelings begin to consume me.

I knew why Luke wanted me to stay away from him, now. He was a drug. He was poison. I found myself unable to ignore him, but the more I allowed myself to be drawn in, the more it hurt and clouded my mind. I didn't know how to be rid of him.

Did Mrs. Mott also feel the same way when she found out about her husband's infidelity? Had it torn their family apart? What had happened to her and her son after Edward Mott was captured and buried alive? Was she able to move on?

I really hoped that she did.

"I'm so sorry, my love.' He gently stroked my cheek. The warmth of his hand made me close my eyes. "I can't help what my heart feels. They belong to the both of you. Can't you be happy for me?"

I let out a shaky breath and looked back into his pleading eyes. "I can't… It feels as if you're putting a dagger through my heart. This pain… If it isn't for our poor son, I would throw myself into the waters and then you may have your lover however you please."

"No!" he protested. His eyes were wide with alarm and suddenly, he climbed off me and threw the wig away. "I can't do this, Sid. I'm sorry, man. I… This is hitting a little too close to home. I'll step down if you want, but I can't continue anymore."

I sat up, pulling the cover to my chest. I was relieved that he had been the first to speak up because I wasn't sure how much more I could've handled. Whatever it was that happened to him must've been as bad as mine.

"No problem!" Sidney grinned at him, glee shining from his eyes. "I've gotten more than enough from that. You can both get changed. We're done filming for the night." He dismissively waved his hand at us. His eyes were already fixated on the screen that was replaying the scenes. "Oh! Don't forget your cameras! Record as much of your experience here as you can!"

I picked up the clothes I had folded neatly in the corner before quickly scurrying off after I had dressed. I ran to my room as fast as I could as if I was somehow trying to protect my modesty even though everyone had already seen me barely clad.

When I was finally in my room, I dumped my clothes on the chair and took off the old fashioned underclothes.

"Are you okay?" Luke put down his notebook and came over, gently kissing my bare shoulder. It was so similar to the way that Rory had just done that I had to look away.

I sniffed before burying my face into his shirt. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm an emotional mess and it's not even that time of the month!"

He rested his chin on my head, holding me as closely as he could. "It's not your fault. It was never your fault."

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

Thank you guests (Guest, Guest, anonymouscsifan) for reviewing!

Guest: Hehe… I like how your introduction gets longer and longer. Please don't ever change xD Her accident before the show made her lose her memories. Edward will come sooooon~!

Guest: Looove triaaangle? :D I don't see why not! I love love triangles!

anonymouscsifan: Ooooh! Your dad sounds awesome! Mine wouldn't watch any shows I like. I'm also going through wild Evan Peters withdrawal, but I'm two episodes behind now, so I'm hoping there might be some scenes with him in it there… I hope…

Thank you as well to everyone who has favourited and followed this story.

Please, leave a review if you enjoyed this!


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER TEN**

To feel her so close again…

To hold her again…

Everything that he had felt for her came rushing back. All the love and desire, the lust and craving; and then, the guilt and regret, the devastation and longing. He wasn't good for her. He had to keep reminding himself that he had to stay away.

With his head already reeling, it didn't help that Audrey was harping at him the moment he left the set. He really didn't care what she had to say.

Lately, it was as if sex was all they had. He found it difficult to think of anything else that he was happy with. Had that always been the case? Had he allowed his dick to run his life – to ruin it?

He ruffled his hair and locked the door to the bathroom before turning on his camera. "Hey, Rory Monahan here. Day one back at this haunted – not actually haunted – place. Filming was pretty hard. I feel like I Had fucked up bad. The scene we had to do was like some old version of my real life.

"I never thought I could miss someone so much and she doesn't even remember me! How fucked up is that? Man… I really, really fucked up this time… I can't even stand Audrey, right now. She's been this crazy, jealous bitch and the one she's jealous of doesn't even know who I am, but…

"I think she might be starting to remember and it's hurting her. I never wanted to hurt her. I was young. I made a mistake. I don't think I can ever fix this. What am I going to do?"

He sighed. He was talking to a camera. What had his life become? Was there no one else he could talk to?

He took out his phone and scrolled through his contact list. Looking at every name, he couldn't find a single one he felt he could confide in. Hovering over Madi, he realised that she had been the only one who would listen to him bitch and moan. No one else cared about his bullshit.

With a growl, he tossed the phone to the side. It didn't have any signal, anyway.

He quickly washed his face, hoping that that would clear his mind, a little. It didn't work.

When he looked into the mirror, he gave a startled shout when he saw himself in full costume behind him. What? That didn't even make sense.

He quickly glanced behind him, but there was no one there. Was he finally going mad? No, it must've been the stress. He was seeing things. "You have to snap out of it! Go out there and stop thinking about the past! You have a beautiful wife out there, probably worried about you." But most likely not, but he liked to believe that it was true. "Go be a man. You can do this!" He pounded his chest a few times to psyche himself up.

He eventually made it out the bathroom when Matt came banging on the door. The other man gave him a strange look, but he flashed him his best aware winning smile. It may have made him look like al lunatic, but at least there weren't going to be questions thrown at him.

His feet brought him to the kitchen where most of them were congregated, chatting about this sequel they were filming and playing around with their cameras. The only ones who were missing were Luke, Madi, and Matt, but the latter quickly rejoined the group.

"That scene sure looked passionate," Monet laughed. "Whew! If I didn't know any better, I would've thought you and that petite model were a couple!"

"Monet!" Audrey gasped. "Don't even! She's nothing but a little girl trying to play with the big guns. I mean, just look at her! She has no curves. There's nothing womanly about her. And don't forget all the mental issues!"

Shelby frowned. "Weren't the two of you together before?" she asked him.

"I – "

"They were only kids back then" Audrey cut in before he could even reply. "He needed a real woman in his life! Look how much better he is now!"

Shelby turned her head away from the other blonde. There was a look of distaste on her face, but it was accompanied by guilt. Rory knew that expression well. He saw it every time he looked in the mirror.

"Can we change the topic?" he mumbled, hating the accusing eyes on him. HE had no doubt that they all knew the story that the media spun. For the most part, Madi was painted as a basket case and that was why he left, but they didn't know the truth of what he had done.

"Yes, precisely," Audrey agreed.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and everyone looked at each other in surprise. Who else was invited back?

Shelby was the one who ended up opening the door. "Dominic!"

"Hey, Shelby!" He smiled back, about to give her a hug when Matt went barrelling over. A punch to the face wiped off all traces of amity on his face.

"Stop!" Shelby cried out, trying to pry Matt off the other man.

Rory quickly went over and the two of them managed to break up the brawl. As he watched, he realised that Shelby had cheated on Matt. Although it was only for one night, he wondered if this was normal. Did fame and status really change a person this much? Was he bound to commit the same mistakes, again?

"Can everyone just calm down?"! Audrey shouted before shaking her head and storming upstairs.

He sighed. His eyes momentarily met Dominic's. The other man gave him a nod and went upstairs to find Audrey. Those two had always been close. He suspected that they also had an affair during the filming, but oddly enough, he didn't find himself too bothered. Sure, there was a pang of hurt that Sidney didn't find him enough, but emotionally, they had never been that connected.

His eyes caught sight of her coming down and his heart skipped a beat. Her long hair was damp and she was gazing curiously at the door where Shelby and Matt were quietly arguing.

When they swept the room and rested on him, she quickly looked away.

He sighed. It was no good getting involved with her again. As much as it pained him to see her walk by him as if he was a stranger, he knew he had brought it upon himself.

"Madison!" Shelby greeted her, relieved that she could break away from her husband.

"What happened? I heard the ruckus from upstairs. Is everyone alright?" she asked.

The blonde sighed. "It's fine. Dominic's arrived. I don't think you've ever met, but he's around here somewhere."

Rory hoped that the other man wasn't going to try to hit on Madi. She didn't need her heart broken.

Dominic's reputation of being a player was notorious and he'd hate to see her hurt, again.

He saw Shelby catch his eye before whispering something to Madi who also quickly glanced over to him. Just as quickly, she looked away, shaking her head profusely.

What were they talking about?

Just as he was about to approach them, Luke came sweeping in and took her into his arms. She let out a surprised laugh before kissing him. Rory felt his sight turn green. No, he had to let her go.

 _He had to let her go_.

…

I kissed Luke on the lips. "Miss me already?"

He had his camera in his hand and was recording me grinning like a fool. "I always miss you." He smiled back.

"See anything strange, yet?" I asked. Sidney was hoping we'd be able to catch some paranormal activity, but it was just a very normal, albeit crowded house, right now.

He shrugged. "Strange, yes. Supernatural, no."

I laughed. Yes, the people here were pretty strange, but so was I. We were all very unusual. No wonder Sidney wanted us all in one house. IF anything, we'd be causing enough drama to bring the house down!

"Madison, here!" I shouted into Luke's camera. "We'll be having some sexy time and _you're_ not going to have any of it!"

Luke looked scandalized and quickly turned off the camera. "We are _not_ putting that public!" he scolded, quickly fiddling with the device to either edit the footage or delete it all together.

I merely smiled at his antics and looked around. Everyone was already looking a little less tense. Alcohol was being passed around, but I knew better than to accept any. I recalled what happened the last time Id rank and my body had become a nasty concoction of chemicals that nearly killed me.

Thinking about it now, I wondered what made me do it. IT hadn't been a social setting. I had been alone. I had been… depressed. One thing led to another and of course, Luke had been the one to save me. I knew how much trouble I always caused him, but no matter what, he was there for me.

There was no one I could've been happier with, but there was someone else who had been on my mind, lately. I glanced over to the redhead who had been quietly nursing a can of beer.

Ever since those scenes I had to film with him, I couldn't stop thinking about him – the way he touched me, the way he felt against my body, the way he whispered into my hearts. Everything about him had driven me crazy and it shouldn't. We were both in our own respectable relationships. I was nothing but happy with Luke and Rory was married. I wasn't one to go after married men!

"What's wrong?" Luke kissed my neck.

I shook my head. "It's nothing. I'm tired, but I feel like I should stay awake longer. Everyone else seems so pumped. I want to join in on the fun."

"You don't have to be like everyone else," he told me. "You just have to be you."

How could I even think of anyone else when he was so kind to me? "I'm going to go upstairs, then. Probably read a book or something."

Luke went to leave with me, but I pushed him back down. "Madison – "

"Stay," I told him. "I don't want to ruin your fun. This is our first night here and I know you're dying to talk to some of these actors. See if you can recruit some into your company – convert them to the dark side." I laughed. "I don't need to be babysat. I'm a big girl, now."

He sighed. "If anything happens, I'll be right here."

"Yes. Yes." I leaned down to kiss him one more time. "I'm still expecting you to be up there later, got it? I need someone to warm up my feet."

A groan left his lips. "They're always like popsicles!"

I giggled before skipping upstairs. I went to the bathroom to wash my face. The cold water staved off some of the fatigue, but I still had enough of the crowd. As much as I wanted to be a party animal like them, Luke was right. It just wasn't me. I didn't have the same energy level as them.

Rubbing my eyes, I turned on the camera. "Hello, again. Almost bed time for me and…" I checked the wall clock. "IT's only ten fifteen. I'm just a regular party animal, aren't I?" I laughed. "Well, I just wanted to say good night and – "

My heart stopped when I spotted someone in the mirror. I turned around and saw nothing. Was I imagining things? Was Sidney's ridiculous notion of spirits finally getting to me?

I let out a deep breath. I had to calm myself. I reached into my pocket and took a couple of sleeping pills. New place, new bed… I was really going to need these.

When I slipped the bottle back into my pocket, I felt a tinge of guilt. Luke thought he had all of my medication, but I had secretly gotten another prescription for these. It wasn't as if I was going to overdose myself on these. I saw no reason for him to be cautious with my medication.

"Okay, I'm alright. Just had a false alarm there," I told the camera. "Did you catch anything? Maybe it was just a trick of the lights. Let's go back to the bedroom. This bathroom is starting to give me chills…"

I brought the camera with me down the dim hall. Alone in the night, this place was a lot creepier, but there was no such thing as ghosts. The only thing I had to worry about was all the other residents.

It was painfully obvious that Audrey Tindall hated me. I just hoped that she wasn't going to try to murder me in my sleep. Hopefully, if I avoided Rory for the remainder of the stay, everything was going to be alright.

When I reached my room, I stopped the camera and changed into my sleepwear. I took my novel out, relaxing on the bed with all the pillows around me like a fort. As soon as I was comfortable, I was relaxed, again. The meds were slowly kicking in, but I was determined to at least finish this chapter.

I was near the end when my eyes began to droop and it became difficult to read the small font or concentrate on anything. The words became meaningless and I sighed, allowing myself to finally close my eyes. It was so nice and warm beneath the covers. I could stay cocooned in here forever.

My mind was still on the novel I was reading when the bed dipped beside me. Luke was back. That was fast. I told him to stay down and mingle…

He took the book out of my hands and gently placed it on the nightstand. The blanket was tugged down. When I made a move to grab it, he replaced the warmth of the duvet with his body.

I hummed happily, enjoying the way he was running his hand through my hair.

"Madi…" he breathed.

That was when I realised something was wrong. Luke never called me that. It was always Madison.

My eyes snapped open and I stared into nervous, dark eyes. It was as if I had fallen back several centuries. "Wha – "

"Shh… Shh…" He placed a finger on my lips. "Please, listen to me. I'm here to warn you. You have to get out of this house. There are malicious spirits here who thrive on death and chaos. I don't want anything to happen to you, Madi."

"What… Rory? What are you doing here?! Get out!" I shouted, trying to kick him off, but I was sluggish from the medication. It was like being trapped in someone else's body.

"No, I'm not Rory. I'm…" He hesitated. "I'm… uh… Edward. I died here and my spirit has been trapped all this time. You must heed my warning. The others will come and they will try to make you join them, but I don't want that to happen to you. I need you to live." His soft hand stroked my cheek. "I've done you wrong once before, I will not do it, again."

"You're not making sense," I mumbled, trying my hardest to stay awake.

"You took something…" He reached into my pocket and pulled out my bottle. "Did you leave this unattended anywhere?"

"M-my bag…" My speech was slurred. I could feel my consciousness waver. "I took it from my bag after I showered…"

"Oh, no…" he breathed. "I'll get help. I'll – "

I managed to grab on to his long sleeves before he could leave. "Stay with me. If I'm going to die here, I don't' want to be alone." Oddly enough, the idea of dying didn't frighten me,. I was just dreading how Luke was going to react. All this time, he tried to save me from myself. "Hold me…?"

"Always." He maneuvered us so that I was leaning against his toned chest.

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

Thank you **HermioneandMarcus, Mystery Angle, Brookie Twiling** , guests ( **Guest, anonymouscsifan, Guest** ) for reviewing!

 **Guest** : Hehe… I love hearing about you guys' theories about the story! A reason why I never reveal everything is because of that xD

 **anonymouscsifan** : Thank you so much! Not sure if this is what you were hoping for when Edward showed up to Madi… Oops!

 **HermioneandMarcus** : Yay! Thank you!

 **Mystery Angle** : Thank you! So good to hear from you, again!

 **Guest** : I hope I don't disappoint you in the future! Or umm… Now… Ahahaha…..

 **Brookie Twiling** : Michael is Michael :P Thanks for pointing out the typos! I'll be working on that… I'm so bad with them. Hahahaha! Yesss… Mrs. Mott had fun with her two boys. They definitely didn't want anyone else to know about that. It's gonna be their deep, dark secret.

Thank you as well to everyone who has favourited and followed this story.

Please, leave a review if you enjoyed this!


	11. Chapter 11

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

I woke up still in his arms. He was whispering comforting words to me, but the memories assaulted me so quickly that nothing could've made the experience better. It was as if the image of him was trying to tear me apart.

Everything that he had done to me… Everything that I had done to myself… It was no wonder my broken mind was trying to protect me from this. I was an absolute mess. Why had I done all that – for someone who couldn't even love me for me?

"It's going to be alright… It's going to be alright…" Now, the man who wore the face of the one I hated was rocking me in his arms. What had my existence come to?

I nodded, mutedly. "If you're really Edward, then why are you being so kind to me? Is this some sort of game? I don't want to play anymore. I've had enough of it when I was alive. I don't want to deal with it when I'm dead, too."

"You… remind me of my late wife," he mumbled. His hand stilled and he pressed me against his chest. It was strangely silent, bringing reality quickly crashing down on me.

I was really dead. Wasn't this what I always wanted? Hadn't I hurt everyone around me just to get here? No, not here. I was hoping for some sort of relief, not an extension of the life I had. Sure, I wasn't expecting pearly gates for myself, but this was a far cry to what I hoped death to be.

"And how did your wife die?" I quietly asked him, knowing that I was going to be a sore topic. When I received my role, I had Luke do a bit of research for me. They had never mentioned the wife or the son's name. The scenes that Sidney had produced were merely of the viewer's pleasure. No one knew what happened to the other two people after Edward Mott was murdered.

He let out a shaky sigh. "They – someone, I don't know who… They took them both from the house and expected money for her return. I gathered everything I had. Money I could always make more, but there was only one of her and there was only one of Michael.

"I loved them so much. I know what they say about me now – that I was a nervous mess and I took a black slave as a lover. I know they thought I was crazy. I knew they thought I was useless. I didn't care about all that as long as I had her…"

His body shook as he began to sob. His tears disappeared into my hair.

"You don't have to continue if it upsets you." I wrapped my arms around her. 'I know it still hurts you. I can see it. You don't have to defend your love for her to me."

"They b-brought them back to me, but I should've been smarter. I should've tried to s-secure their good health because… When they arrived, my son was already dying and my p-poor wife wasn't looking too good herself. Michael died several days later. I couldn't handle it. I couldn't stay in that room or with company who shared my won grief. I needed to vent off elsewhere. I never… I never thought she'd take her own life! I should've been there for her instead of being a selfish bastard! I might as well have killed her myself! I left her to suffer on her own after losing Michael and being mistreated by the kidnappers… She never told me what they did to her, but I suspected. I had seen the markings on her body. I had seen her sudden aversion to men. I had been the only one she drew near and I left her like a coward!" He pulled at the white wig in pain, but didn't take it off.

I didn't know how to console him. _I_ had been on the opposite end of the abusive relationship. _I_ had been the one betrayed and it had torn me apart. Being dead had really put things into perspective and placed my anger where it belonged.

Looking back now, I wondered why I ever thought he was the Holy Grail. He was nothing but an abusive asshole who used my emotions against me.

"And how do I know you're not the same coward you were before?" I suddenly hissed, drawing away from him. "She was in love with you. She gave you a son! And when things got rough, you went and fucked off out of there!"

"Madi…" He extended a hand towards me, but I slapped it away. "I'm trying to make things right! I'm trying! I don't' know what else to do! I don't know what else to do! I can't move on because my every thought is on her. I loved her so much and… Madi, she looked just like you."

"So you're using me to ease your own guilt?" I shook my head, stepping away until I was at the door. "No, I'm not going to let that happen, again. You can go fu – "

I let out a startled cry when a hand clamped down on my shoulder, turning me around.

Two women with old, dirty nurse clothing grinned back at me. "Look at the little baby! She's so confused," one of them snickered.

"It was definitely a good idea to bring her over. She's going to be fun to play with!" the second one added.

I shook them off. I could feel the panic rising. My heart no longer raced in my chest, but all the emotions I had felt before were like muscle memory. They grabbed at me like greedy hands.

"Stay away from her!" Edward roared, pushing them from me. "You don't touch her, you hear me? She is _mine_!"

The nurses sneered at him. "That's no fun!" they cried.

Id didn't know what to think. They had brought me over. They killed me. It made sense. They knew their medicine and they must've spiked my pills or replaced them.

A small laugh left my lips, drawing the attention of all who were present.

"She's already lost it!" the left one giggled.

"That didn't take long!" the right one rolled her eyes.

No, that wasn't it. I wasn't going crazy. I just found it laughable that out of everything that happened, Sidney had been right about the spirits. Where was he, now, missing all the action?

"I'm out of here. Lover boy is spoiling the fun!"

And then, they were both gone and I was alone with him, again.

I sighed, dropping on to the bed where my corpse was still laying peacefully on the mattress. I didn't look dead. I actually look quite nice, considering the amount of weight I had lost after the break up with Rory. I had gained some back during my memory lapse. My cheeks weren't hollow and colourless. Well… that wasn't' true. The natural flush I had before I died was quickly fading away. With each passing minute, I was looking more and more dead.

"You're still beautiful," I heard him murmur, trying to comfort my silent insecurities.

What was I going to do, now? I didn't want to deal with him. Not only was he a stranger, he also wore _his_ face. How was I going to bear staying here? Maybe I could just follow Luke around. He didn't have to know.

"Where are you going?" he asked as I started for the door, again.

"None of your business," I mumbled.

I made my way down the stairs. I saw several pairs of eyes on me, spirits who had been here for a while, but I ignored them all. I just wanted something safe – someone I knew and trusted, so I found Luke and just stayed close to him.

It was depressing that he couldn't see me. He was eating and laughing, completely oblivious that we were never going to be able to be together anymore.

I stretched out my hands, wanting to touch him, but my fingers went right through his body as if he wasn't there, at all. It was as if _I_ wasn't there, at all. "Luke…" I tried calling out to him. I tried throwing things, but I couldn't even shove over an empty can. I even tried sitting in his lap, hoping that he could feel something was amiss, but it was futile.

If I couldn't interact with anything, then how did they switch out my meds? There _had_ to be a way, but no one was willing to help me. The other spirits merely watched and laughed at my poor attempts.

"What am I going to do?" I moaned in defeat.

As I stewed, I could hear the other spirits begin to murmur. It was a wave that grew louder and louder.

"Look at that one there!" one exclaimed. "Looks just like that gay retard!"

I knew they were referring to Rory, but did they have to be so crude? Clearly, they did not evolve with time. Their mentality was stills tuck in the Dark Ages!

"Miranda's going to want her hands on him."

I bit my lips. Even though I hated him, it didn't mean that I wanted him dead. I hated this house already and I had only been here for a few hours. No one should be subjected to this. That meant I had to warn him somehow, but no one wanted to interact with me.

I heard how they described me: a ditzy basket case who only got the job by fucking my way up. I already knew that I wasn't going to make any friends here.

"Madi…" Edward came down looking like a sad puppy. His begging eyes made me feel guilty for treating him so poorly. To be honest, he had been nothing but kind to me and his transgressions occurred centuries ago to someone else I never even knew. Who was I to judge and condemn him?

I swallowed my pride and walked over to the sheepish man, aware that eyes were glued to us. "Edward, I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to just lose it on you like that. I – "

"It's okay," he reassured me. "I know it's a lot to take in. Being dead isn't exactly a trivial ordeal."

He slowly, testingly, walked over and embraced me. I felt myself relax in his arms. Everything was so cold on this side of the world, but somehow, this was enough. Even with the lack of warmth from both of our bodies, I could still imagine it through his actions.

"Edward, the others… I think someone wants to kill R-Rory next." I hated how I stuttered over his name. "I know there's a way to make contact with the living and make things move, but I don't know how. Can you help me?"

He nodded. "Of course. You're still new to this, but maybe I can give you enough power to at least project yourself for a short time."

I smiled gratefully at him. Yes, perhaps I had been too quick to judge. "Thank you, Edward."

He looked me in the eyes as he took my hand as if giving me time to slap it away again, but I allowed his fingers to intertwine with mine as he led me back upstairs.

We were going to have to practice in private. It was no good revealing ourselves too early in front of a large group. The last thing we wanted was mass hysteria.

After returning back into the bedroom, he told me to close my eyes and imagine, really imagine what it was like to be alive, again. It was a strange request. I remembered exactly what it felt like to be alive and it wasn't much different from how I felt now. The biggest difference was the memories.

Maybe if I concentrated on that?

No, that didn't work. The memories only made me angry and upset.

"You've already taken it for granted," he told me. "You're dead and that is the new normal state. You'll have to force yourself to form a corporeal body."

I frowned at him. That wasn't what I thought at all. "But it already feels like my body is solid. I mean… I can feel myself and I can feel you."

He took a step back, but I tightened my grip on his hand to keep him from letting go. A jolt of fear seized me. I was afraid of being alone. What if this was all a figment of my own imagination and I was actually trapped in this house by myself?

"Madi…" he sighed, reaching back out to me and pulling me against his chest. Just the contact was enough. "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. I promise. You can do this. Is there something you really want to say to Luke?"

Of course there was… I had _a lot_ of things I wanted to say to him, but no time in the world could've expressed it all.

"Just imagine how much you want to talk to him. How much you _need_ to talk to him."

It was difficult trying to do what he was telling me to do. I threw my face into my hands and let out a cry of frustration. "I can't do it! Please, warn Luke and Rory for me." Even though I hadn't heard anything about the malicious spirits wanting to off Luke, I would much rather he left before it was even a thought.

Edward looked away. "I've already tied appearing in front of Rory once before. I think I may have caused him to think he was losing his mind."

I blinked before bursting out laughing. If only I had the chance to see that. I would've loved to witness him becoming unhinged. Karma had to get him at one point, but… not in the form of death. However, this made me only want to scare him personally even more.

Unfortunately, as Edward and I planned, the door opened and I was jolted out of my thoughts, frightened as if I had been caught doing something I wasn't supposed to, but the person couldn't see me.

Luke walked in. I could tell he was buzzed by the way he fumbled with the light switch. He kicked his shoes off and gently slipped into bed.

I could feel the dread starting to fill me. This was what I never wanted to happen and I never thought that I would have to see it firsthand.

By now, my body had long since lost all its warmth. I could see how stiff it had gotten and he was definitely going to notice, even when his senses were slightly diminished.

"I'm sorry, Luke," I whispered, tears falling anew from my eyes. "I wish I could've been stronger for you. I tried. I really did." But I was weak and it had all gone to shit. It didn't even matter if I actually tried to kill myself this time or not because I had already attempted it many times before. I knew how much I hurt him.

Edward pulled me against him and I allowed him to comfort me. "I can't promise that it'll get better, but eventually, you'll become more desensitized to it."

"To become less human…" I quietly retorted.

He kissed the top of my head. "However you'd like to word it," he indulged me.

I closed my eyes when I heard Luke speak. I couldn't do this. It was too painful, but I forced my eyes opened again when I heard my name.

"Madison?" Luke mumbled in confusion. "Madison, what…" He touched my face as if I had suddenly become a stranger. 'Wake up. What's wrong with you? Wake up!"

His shaky fingers felt for a pulse on my neck, but there would be none. "No…" he moaned with dread. "No. No! I told you not to come here! I knew it was a bad idea! Why didn't I try harder? He… I knew he was going to be the one to kill you!"

I wanted so desperate to tell him that it hadn't been Rory's fault this time, but I knew it would be of no use. There was absolutely nothing I could do to ease his pain. I knew this was just the icing on top of the cake. Losing my memory had given him hope. Hell, it had given _me_ hope. I had truly been happy with him because I no longer had Rory plaguing every second of my life. If only I had met him first. Perhaps then, I wouldn't have ended up where I was, now.

"Can we go, now?" I whispered, feeling my dead heart crack.

Edward squeezed my shoulder. "Of course. I'll try to talk to him later for you."

We hid in the kitchen where most of the living was still congregated, completely oblivious to the horrors of the house. At least here, the vibe was happy, but I couldn't become complacent when the spirits were plotting.

"You can do this, Madi. I believe in you." Edward tried to cheer me up, but what was the point? I was dead and trying to warn my cheating boyfriend that ghosts wanted him dead to join them so that they could jump his ghostly body.

The moment Rory broke away from the group, we followed him up the stairs and through the hall to the room he shared with Audrey.

He let out a sigh, stretching his limbs. That was when I drew whatever determination I had to talk to him. For a moment, I thought it worked. His eyes narrowed as he squinted in my direction before rubbing them tiredly.

"I need to sleep…" he mumbled to himself. "I'm starting to see things…"

With a huff, I tried again, but this time, I also drew from my anger and hatred. " _ **Rory Monahan**_!" I shouted.

He jumped, staring straight at me with wide eyes. "M-Madi?!"

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

Number one rule: Everyone lies.

Thank you **Mystery Angle, Brookie Twiling, Applejax XD** , guests ( **Guest, anonymouscsifan, Guest** ) for reviewing!

 **Guest** : Hehe… There will be lots of Madi and Edward interactions!

 **Mystery Angle** : Another weeeeeek of pondering for youuu?

 **anonymouscsifan** : I saw that it was a season finale… I'm still a bit too nervous to continue watching… I think I'll binge tomorrow and hope for the best. Eek!

 **Brookie Twiling** : Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh… Rory had a Freudian slip? Yeah… Let's just say that… *cough*

Regarding Murder House… It's hard for me to say, buuuuuut… Let's go with no because for the most part, this is a standalone story. I won't force any of my readers to read anything they don't want. There _is_ a bigger plot that I'm incorporating into all my stories, which may require reading all of them, but it is unnecessary to – hopefully – enjoy each story on its own.

Yup! Madi died… Completely not in the outline, but the story always seem to get away from me and yes! Good guess! Madi got her memories back after dying. But umm… I'll just say that Audrey may be guilty for a lot of things, but not for Madi's death.

 **Applejax XD** : Yay! I hope this chapter was satisfactory!

 **Guest** : Thank you! If you've ever read any of my other AHS stories, maybe you'll be able to answer the questions you're seeking. Hehe… Otherwise, read on! The answer may be revealed in the road ahead!

Thank you as well to everyone who has favourited and followed this story.

Please, leave a review if you enjoyed this!


	12. Chapter 12

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

Maybe a part of me didn't want to see him after all because the moment he said my name, I knew I had flickered out of existence for him, again.

"Madi?!" He turned around in a circle as if I was going to reappear, but that wasn't going to happen. I had felt my courage slip the moment he saw me and those feelings that had left me crippled before came rushing back. How was that possible? I was so sure that I was over him.

"I can't do this… I can't do this!" I shook my head, pacing the room.

"Stop!" Edward pressed me against the wall. "I'll do it, okay? I'll talk to him. I'll warn him for you."

I swallowed back a sob and nodded my head, refusing to look at the man who thought he was going crazy.

He kissed my forehead with a small smile on his face. "Just tell me if you need help. You don't ever have to do this alone."

He was so kind, but I didn't know if it was because I reminded him of his dead wife or if he was truly this kind to help a stranger like me. Maybe he had a long time to reflect on the things he had done. Again and again, all he had were his memories of her and all the things he could've done to prevent her from dying. How would that change a person after hundreds of years?

"Rory?" Edward faced his twin.

The actor jumped. "Who the Hell are you? Where's Madi? I swear… I saw her!"

"I'm Edward Mott. I used to own this plantation and I've been stuck here ever since I died," he replied. "I'm here to warn you. There are malevolent spirits who want to kill you and unless you want to be like me, all of you should leave, now. Warn the others, too, when you get the chance."

"That's ridiculous! Ghosts aren't real!" Rory argued with a shake of his head.

"Then who am I? How did I get here?" Edward retorted. "Look, I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this for someone precious to me. She's the one who wants you to live through this. I personally don't care. The house is crowded enough that I won't even notice you're still around."

"I just…" Rory ran his hand through his hair. "Who are you referring to? Audrey? Do you know her? How – "

"No, you fool!" Edward hissed. 'It doesn't matter. Whoever cares about you wanted me to warn you. That's all I'm going to say. Do the right thing for once in your miserable life."

With that, he jumped out of the living world and let out a frustrated huff. "He is an absolute idiot. Why would you ever care if – " He stopped when realisation must've hit him. "Oh… I thought… The other one… I'm sorry…" He looked bashfully down at his feet.

I gave him a weak smile. "Not your fault. You didn't know. Hell, _I_ didn't even remember it until I died. I had amnesia for a while and it was the best thing that happened to me. I think no matter what happened, I was still going to die, soon." Probably better that I hadn't done it myself, while depressed out of my mind, but everyone else was still going to think that I had committed suicide. They were all expecting it to happen, anyway.

"Don't do that," Edward suddenly scolded me.

"What?" I blinked back.

"You were lost somewhere – somewhere dark where I couldn't help you. Don't do that," he explained.

I recalled that his wife had taken her own life. It was strange how similar our lives ended up. It was as if everything was replaying at different times. "I'll try… Edward, if your wife died in the house. Is her spirit stuck here as well?"

He shook his head. "She's gone. She didn't deserve to be here for all these years. Her heart wouldn't have been able to take all the blood that's been spilt. Our beautiful house…"

"I guess that's for the better." She sounded like a lovely woman.

He mumbled something under his breath before nodding. "Something like that…"

What an odd thing to say.

Dismissing it, I decided to go back to Luke. I shouldn't have left. Hopefully, he was alright. I knew that I was hurting him, again. I wished that it didn't have to be this way.

"You don't have to do this," Edward told me as we began our walk down the hall.

"I have to face this sooner or later. I'm hoping it'll help me come to terms that I'm actually dead and then I can do what I have to do to keep everyone safe." What else would shock me enough than _really_ seeing my dead body, again?

When we arrived in the room, I was surprised to find two men shouting at each other. Was that a good thing or a bad thing?

"It's because of you she's fuckin' dead!" Luke accused. His teary eyes glared at Rory who looked as if he was on the verge of ripping his hair out. How had he gotten here so quickly? Did time pass differently as a spirit?

"I've tried to stay away from her! I didn't know she was even going to be here! Sidney had kept everything a secret. If anything, you should've been able to predict that I was going to be back for the sequel!" Rory shouted back, rubbing his already bloodshot eyes. "It's n-not as if I wanted this to happen."

"Well, it did!" Luke hissed. "You fucked up her life, went and fucked that bitch! She's been crying over you for so long. I thought that the accident had been a blessing when she forgot all about you! Now, this…"

"I know, alright?!" Rory turned around to face the wall. His eyes were clenched shut and he was breathing heavily. "You don't understand… I regret everything I had done to her. If I knew that killing myself would fix her, I would've gladly done it." He hit his head against the hard surface. "I love her, many. Even after everything. I still fuckin' loved her…"

Luke froze and went silent as the new information sunk in.

I did, as well. That had been the last thing I expected him to say. He and Audrey had always looked so happy together. That had, of course, been on camera. Had things been different in private?

Even so, the damage had already been done. My heart had been torn to so many pieces that I didn't think anything could've put it back together.

"So I've said it!" Rory went on, turning back to the shocked man. "I realised that I wasn't good for her. I thought leaving her would do us both some good, but I fucked up! It's the only thing I can do, okay?! I admit it! I'm a huge ass fuck up!

"I followed everything about her on TV, on the internet, whatever random gossip I can get my hands on. I've tried a million times to call her, but she changed her phone number. Hell, she's still in there!" He threw his mobile carelessly on to the floor to prove his point.

"Even seeing the two of you together… It hurt, but I thought, at least she's happy, again… Because that was all I wanted…" he whispered. His voice cracked as the tears finally fell.

Luke let out a breath and sat heavily on to the bed.

Silence fell around the room like a thick blanket as neither knew what to say to each other.

"I have to tell them that I hadn't done this to myself," I told Edward. It was so painful seeing them both like this.

He held his hand out to me and I took it. I reached for the sensation he had told me about and gently tugged. It flowed from his hand to my fingers and into the rest of my body.

I could do this.

For once, I had to be strong.

I needed to do the right thing.

I couldn't just bail because I was scared.

As I was about to tell them, something slammed into my side. Our hands slipped away from each other and I tried desperately to bat away the crazed woman. "Get off me!" It was one of the nurses, but I couldn't tell which one.

She had a knife in her hand. "You're not ruining my fun, bitch!" she screamed, raising the blade above her head.

"No!" I could hear Edward shout as he struggled with another spirit – the other nurse.

Even dead, I was afraid of what the knife would do to me. Would it hurt? Would I die, again? What was going to happen?

I watched with wide eyes as it descended on me. The first stab almost immediately sent me into shock. I could feel the metal slide in and come back out.

Over and over again, she slammed the knife back into my chest. By now, I couldn't even feel the pain anymore, just the impact of the force made me gasp in shock. "Go play in the darkness, little girl!" she cackled.

"No, Madi!" Edward was still shouting as my world began to dissolve around me, until nothing was left.

I was by myself in the darkness. My chest was free of any markings and the only thing left of what that mad woman had done to me was the images seared into my head.

Where was I? I looked around, but there was nothing anywhere. It was as if I was the only one left in the universe after even the sun had burnt out. Was this Hell? Was that what happened after dying as a spirit?

My feet travelled around a little. It was so strange because I wasn't stepping on anything. I thought I would be falling or floating. What kind of physics was this?

I shook my head. This really wasn't the time for trivial questions, but then again, what else was I supposed to do here? Could there possibly be some sort of exit somewhere? Maybe I had to sprout out some magic words?

No matter where I went, if I even went anywhere, there was nothing. Was this where I had to spend all of eternity? I would go absolutely mad!

Eventually, I gave up looking for a glowing green exit sigh that didn't exist and just lay down. It was then that I began to feel like I was really floating. The sensation was actually quite nice and I easily fell into my thoughts, which ended up on Edward.

The sixteenth century man must've adapted a lot in the years he was stuck in the house. I was glad that my ghostly companion didn't sprout out Shakespearean English because I was definitely not going to understand any of that. And although he looked like Rory, their personalities were like night and day. He was chivalrous and soulful. He was also a bit sheepish, but it was endearing. He stepped up at all the right times.

I wished that I could've had more time to get to know him. He seemed so weighed down by the death of his wife still. To love someone so dearly… And to still cheat on them. Why?

My thoughts suddenly changed. Rory had done the same to me. I never thought that I would ever hear that he loved me, again. Why did it have to come after death?

If he approached me before, would I have ever accepted him back? IT was hard to say. Before the accident, I had been so obsessed. He was all I knew. I had given him all my love and he still had it, until I could no longer remember him.

Luke had tried to piece my back together the best he could. Bit by bit, I knew without a doubt that I loved him, but no matter how hard I tried to suppress it, I also still loved Rory. A part of me was always going to love him and I hated myself for it.

And now, there was this man who looked exactly like him with the manners of a true gentleman.

Why was I even thinking about this? I was stuck here alone and all I could think about was my doomed love life! What was I? A stupid school girl?

Lost in thought, I barely noticed when the surrounding changed. The darkness alleviated and I was suddenly in some old, dusty place with wooden shelves and canned foods. The pantry?

I was glad to be away from limbo, but was I still at the plantation?

"Hello, I've never seen you here before." A young girl stepped out from the shadows.

"Who are you?" She had on a dirty dress that was definitely centuries old. Her pale face looked tired and sad. How did she die?

"I'm Priscilla," she softly introduced herself. "Will you play with me?"

Her long, matted red hair was slightly draped over her face with big, blue eyes peeking through. "I… What do you want to play?"

"Hide and seek?" she asked, hopefully.

That didn't seem too difficult, so I agreed.

"You'll hide, I'll seek," she told me, already putting her hands over her eyes and counting backwards from a hundred.

I immediately found myself racing up the stairs. What was I doing? I was dead and playing with a dead girl? Maybe I should've gone looking for Edward instead. Was he worried? Did he know that I was going to come back? At least I was still here where I was familiar with some things instead of that infinite black.

A new door caught my attention. I phased through and saw a body. "Oh, no… No…" The blood pooled beneath him, soaking his clothes with the memory of life left behind. "What are you doing to his body?" I cried at the two women who were touching his chest and fiddling with his pants. "Leave him alone! Have you no shame? Wasn't killing him enough?"

"Stop trying to spoil our fun!" the blonde sneered. Her hand dove into his pants and I had to look away to keep from retching. "Just because _you_ can't have him anymore, doesn't mean that the rest of us can't."

The other one was completely ignoring me as she violated the body.

"Disgusting!" I spat. Had Rory also turned into a spirit? If so, where was he? Surely, he wouldn't allow them to do this if he was around.

"Found you!" The high pitched voice made me hump and I turned to see Priscilla with her finger pointed at me. "You're not very good at this game. I don't want to play with you anymore." With that, she was gone as if the body and what was being done to it didn't affect her at all.

Perhaps it didn't. With how long she had probably been here, she must've seen some traumatic things.

"See, even the little brat doesn't like you," the brunette finally tore her attention away long enough to cackle at me.

I threw my hands in the air and quickly left. I wasn't going to just stand around, while they raped him! Would someone be able to help me if I asked them?

As I rounded the corner, I bumped into someone. Their arms quickly caught me right before I could topple over and didn't let go until I saw them clearly. "Rory?!" I whispered, stepping back.

"Madi…" He looked sadly at me. For a moment, I could see the blood on him and all the stab wounds that took his life. "I didn't think I'd ever see you, again. I… I love you."

I took another step back, shaking my head. "How could you even say that to me after everything you've done?!" Did he think I was going to just fall back into his arms? I didn't care how genuine he may be now. He had destroyed me that first time. I'd be a fool to start that all over again.

There may be a time I could forgive him, but not now. I had to keep my heart out of this.

He opened his mouth to try to defend himself, but probably thought better of it.

"Madi?" Edward's softer voice drifted over and he wrapped his arms around me. 'I'm glad you're alright. I didn't want you to ever experience that here, but with the two of them around, we've all had to go through it a few times."

I nodded against him. "It's alright. I'm just glad that I didn't end up stuck in that darkness. It's horrible there." Even if I had to face Rory, I was so relieved to be out of that Hell hole. At least I wasn't alone with absolutely nothing, especially when it involved warm hugs like this.

Edward was a very good hugger.

"Hey, wait… wait… What the Hell is going on?!" Rory exclaimed. "I'm dead, stuck here, and there's this other guy who looks exactly like me!"

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

Thank you **Brookie Twiling, Mystery Angle** , guests ( **anonymouscsifan, Guest, Guest** ) for reviewing!

Sorry, I'm just gonna ignore the random reviewer with a random review…

 **anonymouscsifan** : I'm going to finish up the rest of the season tomorrow! And then I'll probably write a long blurb at the end of the next chapter xD

 **Brookie Twiling** : I hated the nurses so much! Evvvillll! Thanks for pointing out the typos and grammatical errors!

 **Guest** : Hehe… I'm curious about what you want to say.

 **Mystery Angle** : Muahahahaha! Thank you!

 **Guest** : Ha… I wonder if the other ghosts will get along with Madi…

Thank you as well to everyone who has favourited and followed my story.

Please, leave a review if you enjoyed this!


	13. Chapter 13

**CHAPTER THIRTEEN**

Rory had been completely devastated when he found Luke crying over Madi's body. Somehow, he had a feeling that the spirit, Edward Mott, had meant her when he mentioned a friend. Perhaps it was because that was what he would've done in the spirit's place, but it was so strange seeing someone with his likeness as a ghost.

The thought quickly flit away when he found out that Madi had killed herself. It was so sudden, yet it wasn't. The media had been documenting her descent for months since their breakup and it wasn't as if he never thought about it himself. Sometimes, when he dialled her number and it went nowhere, his heart would jump because he was afraid that she would finally be out of his reach.

When she lost her memories, he thought everything had changed. She looked better – healthier. She looked like a woman in love, again, and it would be a lie if he didn't say that that hurt, but he knew that I was of little importance if it meant her losing her life because he remembered a time when she had been so full of it. Where had it all gone?

Seeing her pale, lifeless face… He felt as if he had lost everything that moment. How could she do this? Hadn't things been better? Why did she have to take her own life?

"Get out!" Luke snarled the moment he saw him. The normally calm, ocean blue eyes were dark with rage. "Haven't you done enough?!"

He caught sight of a bottle on the night stand and walked over to it. Sleeping pills. She had overdosed as he suspected. "And weren't _you_ supposed to be the one monitoring her medication?" he hissed back.

They were trying to pass blame to each other, but he knew that ultimately, he had sent her on this downward spiral. He wondered if being so close to him had caused her memories to return and that was why she had fallen back into her bad habits. If so, he might as well have force fed those pills to her himself.

As Luke continued to ream him out, he finally let slip the words that had been nagging at him since their break up. "I love her, man. Even after everything, I still loved her…" And once he started talking, he couldn't stop. The words kept coming and coming and he felt the weight being slowly lifted off his shoulders.

Once he was done, he touched her cold hands before moving up to her face. "I'm so sorry, Madi." He placed a gentle kiss on her lips and walked out to allow the other man to mourn in silence. The blonde deserved that much. Luke had given her everything he could not.

He entered his room and paced. The tears came relentlessly when no one was watching. Alone, he had no reason to hide or pretend. He broke down like a little boy and couldn't bring himself to stop. He felt as if that one mistake he made had just ruined everything. He was so happy at school when it was just the two of them. They were lost in their own worlds – a world that they created. When had that become insufficient?

"How pathetic…"

He jumped, wiping his tears away. He didn't want Audrey to see him bawling his eyes out, especially not if the camera was on. Who he saw, however, was not his blonde wife. "Who are you? Are you one of the extras? Why the Hell are you in my room?"

She gave him a wide grin. Her long, blonde messy hair shifted as she moved towards him. The old dress she had on was filthy. Who was she?

"The poor, little rich boy is mourning over the poor, little dead girl. How romantic," she sneered and before he knew what was happening, pain slashed across his chest. It was a burning sensation that stung like nothing he had ever felt in his life.

He stumbled back, hitting the wardrobe behind him. His hand tried futilely to stop the flow of blood. "What the f – " At first, he was successful with his attempt to fight off the deranged woman, but another one appeared out of nowhere and stabbed him in the shoulder. It was as if they were trying to make this as painful as possible without killing him when all he wanted was to die and join Madi in death.

Over and over again, they took turns stabbing at him before one of them, he couldn't even tell who anymore because his vision was already flickering in and out, ran the blade deep through his throat. He gurgled as blood spewed from his lips and happily welcomed the sweet oblivion that came right after.

Suddenly, consciousness returned in a split second and he looked around in confusion, wondering if someone had spiked his beer, but one glance at his feet, the nightmare returned.

The two bloody nurses were caressing his body in a way that made his stomach turn. "For fuck's sake, can you not do that to my dead body?" he groaned, rubbing his eyes. Had he really just said that? He felt nauseated just thinking about it.

They both turned to him. "I guess we don't have to now that you're here," the brunette purred at him, her hand never leaving his former neck.

He shook his head, stepping back. It was better that they violated his dead body than to try to violate his… his… spirit? Or whatever he was, now. Better to cut his losses before he had those two following him around.

When he left the room, it was as if he hadn't died. Everything felt the same, but the memory of Madi appearing and disappearing popped into his head. She was here like him. He had to find her. Maybe he'd finally be able to make things right. This was his second chance!

He wandered around, looking for her, but ended up downstairs where most of the cast was still gathered. They were less rowdy, now, and more tipsy.

He saw Audrey smiling and laughing with Dominic. Her hand rested on his knee and his was on hers. Thoughts of the rumours he heard came to him. He had ignored them at first. The others always said Dominic was a two-faced womaniser. After the affair with him and Shelby came to light, he also heard of all the other women who had fallen victim to his charm – Audrey was one of them, but Rory really wanted to believe that it was just a rumour.

As he could see it, however, he had been horribly mistaken. Maybe he just really wanted to believe that he had made the right choice that he hadn't plunged into the deep end way out of his league.

He closed his eyes.

No, that wasn't it. Audrey was just a whore and he was no better. He belonged in their world where all they do was lie and cheat and hurt each other.

Since leaving her, everything he did was wrong. Had she been the only right in his life?

His feet brought him away from the scene and around the house. He caught sight of many other resident spirits. It was so strange and unnerving that just a moment ago, he hadn't noticed what was going on while he was just sitting on the couch. The spirits were laughing and screaming all around, but he had been none the wiser.

He must've been wandering for a while when something, or someone, slammed into him. T he smaller body began to fall backwards, but he instinctively held them in place. The familiarity of the body caught his attention first. Then, the brown hair. He didn't want to let her go, especially when her wide eyes stared back at him – giving him the attention he craved.

"Rory?!" she gasped, scrambling back.

This was no longer the girl who had no idea who he was. She didn't allow him to touch her, recoiling away as if he had the plague.

"Madi…" He reached back out for her, but she continued to back away. "I… I love you." The words came out before he could stop them. It hadn't been the right thing to say, he already knew that, but it was as if he suddenly had no control over himself.

He was dead! Why couldn't he go back to what he had before? Was there really no way for him to redeem himself? If only he could just actually _die_. What was this half way shit?! He had to continue existing after death while Madi continued to hate his guts?

Things only got worse when _he_ popped out of nowhere and hold her as if he had always been holding her; as if he had the right to hold her!

If he had any blood in this body, he would've been as red as a tomato with steam bursting out of his ears. Why _him_?! He looked like a mopey version of himself! And what about Luke? Had everything gone out the window as soon as she died? Was everything fair game now? Perhaps that wasn't such a bad thing. Maybe he could get his hands on her, too…

No, he couldn't do that. Madi wasn't some sort of possession, he had to remember what happened the last time he fucked up. This was a delicate situation.

"Look, _Rory_ ," Edward spat out his name. He could already tell that they weren't going to get along. "Whoever you think you are or were to Madi is all in the past. No one here has any sympathy for you. You've already broken her heart once. I'm not going to allow it to happen again."

She clutched on to Edward's shirt tighter, as if somehow the other man's presence was actually providing her comfort. He didn't like it. She was clinging to a stranger!

He narrowed his eyes. They were at a standstill, until Madi let out a sigh. Her doe eyes fell on him. "Can we… Can we all just get along? I know I'm the one who had that outburst earlier and I know I may never be able to get over what happened between us, but… If we're going to be stuck here together forever, I'd rather not have to suffer through the awkwardness."

"Whatever pleases you." Edward smiled down at her and she smiled back at him.

Because of this, he couldn't exactly say no. He had to win her favour, again. There was no way that he was going to lose to that pompous dickhead.

"I'll try my hardest." That was the best he could promise.

She turned her smile on him as well and he suddenly wished that he could've given her more. What was holding him back?

"Can I go lay down?" she asked. She was practically leaning all her weight on the other man.

They retreated to the bedroom where an old dusty mattress was laying forgotten in the basement. She immediately lay down and curled up into a ball. Her silence was concerning, neither men knew what to do as they stood by her feet.

Edward made the first move. He knelt beside her, whispering soft words. All Rory saw was her head giving a small bob before the other man crawled in and brought her against him.

It was as if he was watching his past from another point of view. Whenever she was upset, she'd snuggle up against him and he'd keep her safe. How could he prove to her that he could be that person, again? He didn't want to be the outsider. He didn't want to be replaced.

…

I knew I said I was going to be strong, but often, the emotions would overwhelm me and all I wanted to do was withdraw from the world. I wanted to be alone.

When Edward asked if he could stay, I didn't think he was going to lie down beside me, but the moment his arms were around my waist, I instinctively scooted closer. I liked being held. I liked to cuddle and just have that physical support to ground me to reality. If I ever get lost in thought too long, it'd be difficult to get out. I'd be there for hours – days, but when someone else was around, they tend to want attention. They snapped me out of my thoughts.

My therapist told me to write my thoughts down, instead of bottling them in, but how? There were too many of them. There was no way I'd be able to put it all into words. The doctor just didn't understand. They were too technical. They all had their own little notes and checking their big, fat text books as if I was nothing but a school problem with the answer written in those old, unused pages.

I wasn't!

I was a person who couldn't be defined by mere print! Hadn't they realised when none of their medications were working? I had taken them like a good, little girl. I didn't miss a single dose, but it had never been enough, so I took matters into my own hands. It just got a bit… out of hand after. By then, I knew that all the tiny pills weren't helping at all. They were lies to placate me, so I tried to give myself the final fix.

Even _that_ didn't work.

I didn't know whether I was happy about that or not because I was stuck _here_ , now. This wasn't what I thought death would be like. I didn't even know if there was a way to get out of this Hell hole.

"It'll get better," Edward whispered to me, rubbing my arm. "I swear. It'll get better."

I wanted to believe him, but it was just so hard. "When?" I asked. "When is it going to get better? Would it be before or after I lose my mind?" It certainly didn't help that I was stuck with Rory Monahan. Why couldn't he just leave me alone? I already tried my best to save him.

"I don't know," he confessed. "But I'll do everything I can to make it better for you."

I sighed. "Thank you." I leaned over and kissed his cheek, watching him touch the spot in shock. Had I overstepped the line? Since he was holding me so close, I thought it'd be alright, but no matter how helpful he had been, he was still a stranger. It didn't seem right for me to feel so comfortable with him.

"Is there anything I can help you, now?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Just stay here." Maybe I didn't want to be as alone as I thought. What was happening to me? It felt as if I should be trying harder to help the others – the ones still living, but…

It hadn't done me any good, so far. Was it even worth trying?

"If the two of you are just going to lay there, I'll go and try to help my wife get out of this fucked up fate," Rory spat out, storming out of the basement.

His wife…

Audrey Tindall.

I hated her. Even if she hadn't stolen Rory from me, I would've still hated her. I had heard of all the underhanded things she had done to get herself roles. Rory never seemed to care about any of it, so I assumed that I was all out in the open. He was aware of what he had gotten himself into and was just like her – sleeping himself up in the industry.

How much of an idiot was I to fall for it all? Did I think he really loved me? I was just another stepping stone.

"Don't cry," Edward murmured, stroking my hair. He was so like Rory that it was frightening. Was I using him? Were we using each other to fill the voids in our hearts? He had lost his wife and I lost the love of my life. Maybe it was possible to find love after death.

Love…

Luke…

He was still in the house. I needed to get him out.

I wiped away my tears and slowly pulled away from Edward who looked at me with concern. "I need to go upstairs. I need to find Luke." If there was anyone's life that mattered to me, it was Luke's. I had to do everything I could to save him and… and say my goodbyes. Perhaps that was what we both needed, some closure.

My feet carried me to the room that I hadn't even had the chance to sleep in, yet. Luke was still there, but he looked as if he was on the verge of losing his mind.

"He took her!" he muttered to himself, pacing the room. "He took her body. How dare he?! After all that he had done… He had no right to her. I loved her more than he ever did!"

Indeed, my boy was no longer on the bed, but who had taken it?

A hand clutched mine. "Go on," he told me.

With a nod to Edward, I took a deep breath and tugged. "Luke!" I called out to the blond man. "Luke!" My second cry caught his attention. His head snapped up and he looked at me with bloodshot eyes.

"M-Madison?" he breathed out in disbelief. "N-no… You're dead! I saw you! I – I checked your pulse. You were dead!" Nonetheless, he made his way over to me and I took a step forward, sliding my hand out of Edward's.

Luke blinked. "You're not really here, are you? I'm imagining this."

I shook my head. "I'm here, Luke, but not for long. I need to… God… I love you so much and you were the only one who kept me going. I wanted you to know that I didn't kill myself. IO had been so, so happy with you. It's this house. I should've listened to you and never came here."

The tears fell freely down my face. "You need to get out. There are spirits here who want to kill everyone. I was the first. R-Rory was the second. I need you to leave and go back to our apartment. I want you to m-move on. Be happy because y-you deserve it."

"But you're still here." He reached out to touch me, but I shook my head, again. It was best if we didn't try. "How can I leave when I know you're here? Will you be able to go with me?"

I looked back at Edward who gave me a slight shake of his head.

"I can't, but I shouldn't either way. I don't want to haunt you. Please, just leave. All I want is for you to be safe. _That_ would make me happiest," I begged him.

He let out a shaky breath. "Okay. I'll leave, but I'll never forget you."

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

 _Spoilers at the very bottom of this page regarding apocalypse._ There will be several page breaks and warning before you reach that point.

Thank you Vivi H88, Brookie Twiling, guests (Guestx3, anonymouscsifan, Guest) for reviewing!

 **Guest** : Haha! No worries about posting three times! It was funny when I got the notifications. Edward and Rory look alike, similar to how James and Kyle look alike :P Teehee… And how Madi looks like Madi.

 **Vivi H88** : Thank you so much!

 **anonymouscsifan** : Those nurses are nasty! Whew… I wonder how Audrey will react if/when she sees Edward. Teehee… I FINALLY FINISHED WATCHING APOCALYPSE! I'm sorry how long it took me, but… I have so much I want to say about it. Lots of frustration. I'll do the blurb at the very bottom of this to avoid spoiling anyone who hasn't watched it, yet (probably no one since I waited so long).

 **Brookie Twiling** : Edward, his wife, and Guinness all had some sexy times together. I would take everything that I wrote about the past as the full truth and then anything Edward says with a grain of salt. Uuuuh… I meant 'man' instead of 'many' Eek! I hate it when my typos are real words.. Eek… Also, don't feel pressured that you have to edit my work. I really appreciate it, but the stress shouldn't be on you at all. Hehe… Is there a particular pairing you're waiting for? Also, I haven't heard 'Finding You' before. Time to YouTube it!

 **Guest** : Gonna be lots of drama coming!

Thank you as well to everyone who has favourited and followed this story!

Please, leave a review if you enjoyed this!

 _SPOILER ALERT_

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 _SPOILER ALERT_

Soo… I finally finished watching Apocalypse and I was really disappointed. I would never call this season Apocalypse. It was basically the nuclear beginning, a few days in the Outpost and then just flashbacks after flashbacks. Maybe it's because I've seen a lot of apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic shows and movies. The name of the season made me so excited, but the content was just… no…

I loved the beginning because it was a great set up for what I thought was to come. Instead, it set up nothing but flashbacks. It was nice to see some of Michael's past, but it didn't move the plot for me. And basically those flashbacks went all the way to the last episode and a very abrupt ending. So haha Cordelia kills herself and suddenly Mallory just uses all her power to turn back time in a very unimpressive way as if nothing happened. It felt so _cheap_. It seemed like they had an epic final battle coming up. What happened? Why did they just opt out?!

Also the very last scene with the kid… That does make me wonder what it meant and whether they'll expand it like they did with Michael or would everything literally just repeat itself over and over and over again? Did anything from this season mean anything at all?

Aside from that, I had a very personal problem of not knowing where Madi would go if I decide to thrust her into the story. In Vision, I had decided not to make Tate into a rapist, so… Michael will have to come from elsewhere… Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!

There's so much more I have to say, but my thoughts are always a scattered mess. I'll end it here before it becomes a story of my grievances.


	14. Chapter 14

**CHAPTER FOURTEEN**

I told Luke everything I could before I felt myself go lightheaded. It was as if something was being sucked out of me and I stumbled back, fighting not to break the connection.

Both Luke and Edward called out to me with concern, but I waved them off.

"I'm fine. I might not have much longer to talk to you, but I need you to leave. That is the most important thing." I wanted so desperately to hold him. If my hands went through him, however, I'd be devastated. I'd like to pretend just a little longer. "Luke, everything that I own is now yours. I don't have any family and I really don't have any friends. All I had was you and I loved you so, so much. Please, leave now. Don't even bother taking anything with you. I'll try to keep the other spirits away, while you go."

"I love you, too. Always," he told me.

"Go," I whispered as my power disappeared and Edward caught me before I reached the floor. "No, go after him. I can't let the others take his life, too."

When I realised that he was unwilling to leave my side, I weakly stood up. "Come on! They already have a head start!" I could only hope that Luke was faster and he hadn't wasted time warning the others. He was my number one priority. I was going to handle the others as they came, but not now. I didn't have the energy to project myself anymore.

As I went as fast as I could with Edward tugging me along, I could already hear all the chatter around me. They wanted Luke. I wasn't going to allow that to happen.

I spotted one of the ghosts creeping off to pursue the blonde man, but I quickly tackled him and swallowed hard. This was for Luke. With a shaky hand, I ran my knife across his neck, feeling how easily the blade went through the flesh made me swallow the bile quickly rising up my throat. The knife fell through my hand when I lost concentration and I quickly scrambled away as the body disappeared.

"You're doing great," Edward encouraged me, pulling me up and retrieving the knife. "You can't stop, now. He needs you."

I could do this.

Luke needed me.

Taking deep breaths, I kept going. The path to Luke was full of obstacles. Even after dragging out the spirit in the car. Even after he was driving far, far away, I continued to chase after him until suddenly, I was snapped back into the house.

It was then that I knew for sure he was safe. There must've been some boundary keeping the spirits of this land contained. This meant that I was never going to see him, again, but it also meant that he was truly safe from these spirits that craved blood.

"We did it." I let out a sigh of relief. I wished that there was a way for me to contactt him, if only once. I wanted to hear him when he finally arrived at the apartment.

"You did so wonderfully." Edward kissed my temple. "Now, rest. You're still new at this and you've used up too much energy. Don't over reach too much or it'll be much harder to recover."

I nodded tiredly at him and was ready to go to bed. Since Luke had left everything behind, it felt as if he was still there.

I lay down on the soft bed. It was nothing like the lumpy mattress in the basement. Laying there beneath the covers with Edward still in the room, it was a little awkward, but he eventually left me alone with the promise to return shortly.

The clock ticked rhythmically as it faithfully counted the infinite seconds that marked how long sleep evaded me.

I tossed and turned, until I was a ball of frustration. My eyelids were heavy, but nothing eased this torment. My mind simply refused to go to sleep.

By the time Edward returned, he could see how upset I was and looked away. A sigh left his lips. "Madi… I probably should've told you this earlier, but I didn't think you'd believe me. There… After dying and becoming a spirit, there is no way to sleep, anymore. You can meditate, but that's about it. I'm sorry."

I threw the cover off me with a scream. "Is there no way to escape this madness? Is there no rest for the dead?!" Looking up at Edward, I saw how sad he looked and knew that I should stop throwing all my anger at him. It wasn't his fault. No matter how much he apologised for it, there was nothing he could've done.

Now, his wide, puppy eyes were looking at me in a way that made me feel like scum. "I'm sorry, Edward. You've done nothing wrong. You were right. If you told me that I was never going to be able to sleep again, I would've tried my hardest to prove you wrong."

He smiled softly at me. "It's alright. I understand that today must've been overwhelming for you. If you need someone to talk to, I'm always here. I mean… Of course, I'm here. Not as if I could go anywhere even if I wanted to, but – " He abruptly stopped, his face going red. "I'll stop talking, now."

I giggled. His awkwardness was showing and it was absolutely endearing. "I don't mind. Keep going if you'd like. I enjoy listening to you talk. Would you maybe… read to me?"

His eyes lit up and he grabbed the closest book, which happened to be the mystery romance I had been trying to get through. "W-Where do you want me to sit?"

I patted the spot beside me and he quickly settled in. He cracked the book open to where I left off and began to read. His voice flowed smoothly with no signs of hesitation.

My eyes fluttered closed. He could read anything to me and I'd enjoy it. There was just something about the way he spoke. It was elegant and refined, very different from the way he stuttered through his words normally and nothing like the coarse language of modern English.

I moved over a little closer, until my head was resting in his lap. His hand fell upon my hair, stroking it lightly. I was on the verge of sleeping, but I knew it was never going to come. At least this state was like floating on a cloud. It felt great just laying there against him.

Why was I so comfortable around him? He was a stranger, yet all I wanted to do was stay in his arms. Was it because of the way he looked? Was I trying to recreate a life that could never be? Was _he_?

"I love you, he said to her. If the bullet had aimed true, she would've been lost to him forever. HE couldn't keep denying the truth any longer, not when it meant her never knowing the way he felt," Edward read on. "After the killer had been caught, they allowed the police to finish up with their questions before finally heading home together."

"Is it possible for us to still have happy endings?" I whispered.

He closed his eyes, the hand with the book fell heavily on to the bed. "It's the only thing keeping me going."

"I'm sure she's forgiven you by now, your wife," I told him. "You don't seem like a bad man. Whatever you think you have to atone for, I think you've showed it in your remorse."

"Maybe…" he mumbled. "Maybe _you're_ my redemption."

I said nothing. My heart was pounding in my chest. He needed to stop saying things that made me feel this way.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash that shook the entire house. I quickly sat up, wondering what was happening. "What was that?"

"Probably just one of the spirits causing trouble, again," he sighed, placing the book back on the bedside table. "Don't worry about it. Let's – "

Screams and more crashes pierced through the air. There was no denying that something was wrong.

Ignoring Edward's protests, I raced down the stairs to see that the gathering had long since disbanded and chaos met me. The kitchen was empty. T he daylight shone brightly through the window, illuminating the knocked over chairs and empty cans. It was as if a small scuffle had broken out.

I looked around and saw the front door wide open. A vase by the entrance had fallen and shattered.

Another scream made me race upstairs and I phased into the room where Shelby was cowering in front of a woman – one of the actors from the previous season – Agnes. The woman was dressed in an old dress that was from a century long since passed. A large cleaver was held above her head as if she was going to butcher Shelby.

I squinted my eyes when I saw a faint shadow around her. It followed her every movement. No, I could see its grasp on her arms as if it was controlling her like a puppet.

"Leave her alone!" I shouted. I tried to tackle it away, but I only managed to distract it for a brief moment. Agnes stopped when the shadow briefly lost contact and stared at Shelby in confusion before Dominic burst in and shoved her to the side.

The shadow regained its grasp on her as I was pushed aside by the brunette nurse. "Stop being such a bitch! You're always ruining our fun!" Her knife glinted in the sun as she made to stab me, but I kicked her away.

"Maybe if you'd stop being such a psychopath!" I shouted back.

We fought in the small room, weaving in and out through the other duelling couple. "Why are you always trying to kill people?!" I didn't understand how they turned out this way. Weren't they supposed to be nurses back then? Didn't they go into the profession to help people?

"Oh, fuck off! Get off your high horse. Just you wait and see, you'll enjoy it like all the rest of us do! It'll only be a matter of time!" she spat.

Edward appeared behind her as she was about to charge and me and flung her at the wall. Where she landed, I had no clue, but together, we managed to pull the shadow away from Agnes.

The poor woman collapsed on to the floor and Dominic was finally able to tend to Shelby who was bleeding heavily from a deep shoulder wound.

"What is wrong with these spirits?! They couldn't all have been evil when they were alive." I shook my head, relieved that she was still alive, but for how long?

"It's this house or this land. There have been so many ritualistic sacrifices here that the ground is completely stained with blood." He looked sad as he spoke and I recalled that he, too, had been a sacrifice.

"You turned out alright," I said, trying to cheer him up, but it didn't seem to work despite the weak smile he sent me.

"We should head over to the others if you want to see them. I think they're trying to escape through the underground tunnel," he told me, taking my hand.

I didn't know how he could've known this, but when we arrived down in the old tunnel, I saw Monet, Lee, and Audrey scrambling around in fear. Was it just me or did they still have their cameras in their hands? Really? Things were out to kill them all and they were still trying to record everything? What was wrong with them?

"Stay here. I'll help them." He flickered and appeared before them, but before he could say anything, bullets ripped through his body and I let out a scream as he staggered back before falling over.

"Edward!" I knelt by him, not even caring that the trio had ran past us.

He let out a string of curses and touched the holes that riddled his body. "I apologise. I thought I would be able to help you, but I guess I don't quite look too trustworthy." He groaned and clenched his eyes shut in pain.

I knew first hand that just because the dead couldn't exactly die, again, didn't mean that pain became nonexistent. In fact, it was worse after death. The pain came and didn't leave until I was in that other realm of absolute darkness. From there, it was an entirely different type of pain. "Don't apologise for that." I gently touched his arm, afraid I was going to hurt him further. "You tried and that's all that matters to me."

"Thank you, Madi." His lips fell on my cheeks and I could feel my face heat up. "I'll do better, next time."

I shook my head. "We'll help them however we can, but I don't want you to get hurt in the progress. They're… They're not worth it…"

His hand touched my cheek and brought me closer. "Thank you," he repeated, but this time, there was something sensual about his words. They rolled off his touch and rumbled low.

"Ed-Edward…" I breathed.

His body shuddered and suddenly, he was gone.

I waited in the same spot for him to come back. I was afraid to wander this house by myself. It was as if I was a lost child waiting for someone to come find me, again.

When two arms wrapped around me, I finally relaxed my still body. I tilted my head to face him, watching a smile spread across his lips.

"There's something else being dead does to you." His fingers trailed down my neck and down the valley of my breasts. "It lowers your inhibitions." His breath caressed my ear and I let out a soft gasp. "You don't know how hard I've been trying to keep it together, but everything about you calls to me, Madi."

He pressed himself closer against me and I could feel the bulge grind into the small of my back.

"I… I…" My own desire flared up. I couldn't tell whether this was because of what he said or if I was just naturally attracted to him, but I allowed him to move his hands up and down my body.

"Let me have you, even if it's just once." He tugged at the nightie I had on. The material easily gave under his aggression.

He pressed me into the rocky surface and I finally snapped out of it. "Stop! Please, not here." Not here? I shouldn't let him do this anywhere, but my desire was bubbling quickly to the surface. I wanted him and I couldn't even convince myself otherwise.

His heavy breaths puffed along my skin, until he finally straightened up and cleared his throat. "S-Sorry… I should've had better control. I swear, I won't touch you again unless you've given me permission."

I readjusted the thin fabric and took his hand in mine. "It's just not the right time, but we'll talk about it later. Let's just deal with… whatever this situation is." No, no, no… What was I saying? I wanted him touching every part of me. I wanted –

His eyes brightened up and he kissed my lips. It lasted only a split second, but I could still feel the sensation lingering. It tingled and heated. It fuelled the desire that was already simmering to the top.

"Alright… Help these people and then, we talk about us and this connection that we have," I told him.

He nodded, squeezing my hand. As I turned around, I slammed right into another body. Angry brown eyes seared into my own.

"What are you still doing with him?" Rory growled, glaring over at Edward who only drew closer to me in defiance. "He's probably one of the spirits who conspired to get us all killed!"

"I would never do that," Edward argued. "I have no desire to kill anyone. I've seen enough bloodshed to know that it leads nowhere."

"That's what you're saying now…" Rory muttered. "If you two are going to fuck, at least, get a room. He just got himself shot and then, the two of you were going to go at it, while our friends run for their lives. Talk about priorities…"

I frowned at him. "Obviously, you know everything about priority and we weren't going to _fuck_. Even if these people are no friends of mine, I still don't want anything to happen to them. Besides, if you were here to watch Edward get shot, maybe you could've helped."

He looked away. "Let's just go after them, then."

We ran out of the tunnel and followed the path, straight to Sidney's trailer where bodies were laying haphazardly on the ground with blood splattered everywhere. The production crew was all dead.

I covered my mouth with my hands. "Oh, no…" Had it been Agnes? Had she gone on a killing spree before going into the house? When had they died?

"What's going on?" I heard a confused voice. "Rory? Why are there two of you?"

Sidney, appearing exactly like his dead, intestine-spilling body, was looking at us with a frown on his face. "Is that… Is that my body?" He knelt by the corpse and tried to touch it, but his hand kept going through. "What's going on?!" he shouted at us.

We all looked at each other.

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

Thank you **Vivi H88, Brookie Twiling** , guests ( **Guest, anonymouscsifan, Guest** ) for reviewing!

 **Vivi H88** : Thank you so much!

 **Guest** : Hehe… Rory wasn't a very likeable character in Roanoke. Well… No one was xD I'm really hoping that I could capture that and keep them all in character. Aww… Luke… I like Luke too, but he just has to go because this isn't about him! Maybe he'll make an appearance elsewhere. Who knows?

In terms of Apocalypse, I'm still thinking of how I can put Madi into it. The entire story was so scattered that it didn't really have a clear storyline to me. If I end up writing it, I'm not sure if I'll be able to follow anything other than the very core details. I'm also playing with the idea of Cult, right now, because I love Kai Anderson, but I'm not sure how I'm going to do that either.. Urk… But I'll be doing one if not both after this!

 **anonymouscifan** : Would they do a continuation of this story next season? Maybe the kid will end up being the complete opposite of Michael or even worse MUAHAHAHAHA! Or maybe they'll just do something completely different before connecting everything again.

 **Brookie Twiling** : Noooo… My list of goofing is getting longer and longer! Thanks for helping me, though! Do it as long as you like! I really appreciate it!

I think seeing Madi's dead body and then, seeing her spirit, it probably unnerved him quite a bit. Besides, who was he to deny her of her "last" request?

Hmm… _did_ Guinness die on the property? Is he actually dead? :OO Will he ever appear again? Hehe… Who knows?

 **Guest** : Thank you! I hope you liked this chapter, too!

Thank you as well to everyone who has favourited and followed this story!

Please, leave a review if you enjoyed this!


	15. Chapter 15

**CHAPTER FIFTEEN**

Sidney and the rest of the dead crew ran away not long after we tried to explain that they were dead. They didn't want to hear any of it and threatened to sue us.

Ha. Ha.

I would love to see them try.

"For fuck's sake…" Rory groaned, running his hand through his hair.

I sighed. "We'll just leave them alone to make their own mistakes."

We continued our way through the forest, until something caught my eyes. I let out a horrified gasp. "Your body…"

There, strung between the trees, was Rory's bloody body. There was still a pool of fresh blood beneath the body. "What have they done to you…? And why?" The only blessing was that he was still fully clothed.

Rory swallowed, visibly shaken by the image of his body in such a state, but he quickly walked away. "It doesn't matter. It's only a body, now. It doesn't feel anything."

"Don't you want to at least get it down?" I asked. Was he hurting as much as I was? My body, too, had disappeared shortly after Luke left. "Can you help me, Edward?"

"Of course," he replied, boosting me up the tree, until I could slowly untie each of the limbs. When the body fell, Edward managed to catch it and gently lay it down on the ground. "You're really getting good with interacting with the living."

I smiled at him. "Thank you!" I still became fatigue easily and I couldn't hold on to things for long, but at least I was making progress. With a bit more time, I knew I could be as good as all the other crazy spirits.

Rory was already off in the distance by the time we finished tending to the body. I made my way over, wondering what had finally made him stop.

There, barely noticeable, was the boundary. The sun gave it a faint shimmer. It had never felt so real.

I extended my hand towards it, but felt nothing. Had I been expecting something solid? There hadn't been anything solid to touch, but something tingled my hand and travelled up my arm. I could feel the same tug that threatened to throw me back into the house. "This is so strange."

Edward pushed my arm down. "Stop that. What's strange is seeing you without a hand."

I smiled apologetically at him and allowed him to play with my fingers as Rory stomped off again, muttering under his breath. "I'm glad you're here, Edward." I didn't know what I would do if I was alone in this place or even with Rory. I would be as loony as the two nurses.

"Not as glad as I am that _you're_ here," he replied, but his eyes were sad. "But I never wanted to share this fate with anyone, especially you. You're too good for this place. I don't want you to change like everyone else has, including me."

I pecked his cheek. "I won't. Not if you're here." He made me feel so bubbly and nice inside. It was as if…

I swallowed. I couldn't allow myself to reach that point, again. Last time hut so much. I wasn't about to hand my wounded heart to anyone unless I was sure that they would treat it right.

"Can you guys be serious for a minute?" Rory barked, glaring at us as if we somehow had a hand in his death. When had he returned? Had he ever truly left? "I don't want to have to clean my eyes every few seconds 'cause you two can't keep your hands off each other. Disgusting!"

Edward narrowed his eyes back at him. Stepping forward, he puffed out his chest. "Then perhaps you should keep your eyes off us. I won't apologise because Madi likes spending time with me instead of you. That is no problem of mine, so stop being an asshole to her."

Once again, the redhead turned on his heels and marched away, while Edward turned back to me with his shoulders slumped forward. It looked as if all his courage had all slipped away, but it was enough. He was willing to work through his anxieties to defend my honour. "Sorry, I probably shouldn't have done that."

I shook my head. "No, I appreciate it. You're doing what I could never do – standing up for me. Thank you, Edward."

His eyes brightened as he beamed at me.

With Rory actually gone and the trio out of the realm of the malicious spirits, we made our way back to the house. The sun was already beginning to set. Did time run faster as the dead?

"Let's take a shortcut."

I felt the familiar tug and ended up back in the house. 'How - ?"

"A trick you'll learn later on," he told me.

"Are you able to use it on the living?" I asked.

He shook his head. "That'll take more power than I'll ever have."

Oh well… It was worth an ask. The others were just going to have to get out another way.

"Madi…" His body suddenly pushed mine against the wall. His breath on my lips. "I shouldn't stay with you. It's getting so hard to control myself," he groaned, rubbing his face on my hair. I heard him take in a deep breath as if he was trying to take in every strand. "But I can't let you go."

My lips parted in anticipation. I couldn't tell if the desire was coming from me or a side effect of the land, but I suddenly wanted him like nothing I had ever wanted before. "Please…" I breathed, placing my hand on the back of his head and pulled him into a hard, needy kiss.

Our lips smashed into each other. His teeth nibbled on mine, until I gave him what he wanted.

My eyes fluttered closed as his hand wandered beneath my nightie and flicked a hardening bud with his finger.

"Edward!" I broke away, crying out his name. Was I still cheating on Luke? Was I still _with_ Luke? I couldn't think. I couldn't form a coherent thought. I just needed and I needed so much. "More…"

I tugged impatiently at his trousers, wondering why foreign clothes were so complicated and why must they have so many layers? Peeling off one layer, there was another and another, while one tug had me completely naked. "H-here?" I asked, a momentary shot of shyness hit me at the thought that anyone could walk by and see, but then I remembered that only the other spirits could see us and they weren't hindered by locked doors.

So why bother?

"Do you prefer going somewhere else?" he mumbled, brushing his lips against mine, again.

I hummed, feeling distracted by his kisses, but managed to clear my mind enough to tell him to relocate into the bedroom anyway where he nearly tossed me on to the mattress. He landed shortly after me, rolling on top until his weight pinned me down.

He brushed my hair back. "You're so beautiful." And he looked at me as if he truly thought that. "Let me worship you."

My body arched, burning for him. "Take me, Edward."

He continued to kiss me as I felt the nudge between my legs. I was already wet and ready for him. Without needing anymore persuading, he entered me slowly and gently as if he was afraid that I was going to break. His hand ran along my body, lingering on every sensitive spot as if he already knew all of me.

"Madi…" he groaned, bumping into my cervix as he fully sheathed himself.

My breath came out in heavy pants. "More, Edward!"

He quickened his pace, until the two of us were clinging to the edge before release washed over us like a tidal wave – over and over again.

I never thought that I would ever be able to feel this way about another man, but here was this stranger who made my heart flutter. Why?

"Edward…" When I touched his face, his eyes opened and his half hooded brown eyes had a red tinge to them. Was it the lighting?

"Madi." He smiled lazily at me. " I…" He looked as if he wanted to tell me something, but thought better of it. He shifted us so that I was lying on top of him

"What are we?" I asked him, drawing slow patterns on his bare chest.

"Whatever you want us to be," he whispered, but his eyes seemed to be pleading me.

I didn't like that he was allowing me to set the boundaries. What if I made the wrong choice? It seemed to be the story of my life. Was death going to be any different? I had already gone to be with the man I had known for a day and my heart was ready to glide over to him no matter how hard I tried to pull it back. Hadn't I learned from my mistakes?

But the way he was looking at me, now… What was I going to say to him? He had been nothing but good to me. I had no reason not to trust him. What was I going to do?

"If you want this to be a onetime thing, I promise that I will never bother you, again. I – "

I must've taken too long thinking over his question because there was a certain panic in his voice.

"It's not that," I told him. "I just lost my boyfriend and best friend after dying. I don't know if I'm ready to be in a relationship so soon and… and…"

"What the Hell is going on here?!"

We both jumped at the sudden exclamation and turned to see Rory reappear for the third time. Was he having issues? Was death making him go crazy or didn't he realize already that this antic was extremely childish?

Rory really had no right to be outraged, right now.

Edward tightened his hold on me, glaring back at him. "I don't believe that's any of your business," he said, pulling me into a kiss to prove his point.

I sighed against his lips. Rory's protests were barely audible when Edward was holding me like this. What was it about him that made me forget everything?

Suddenly, arms wrapped around me and pulled me away from my naked lover. I was completely bare against the clothed body behind me. "Rory, what are you doing?!"

"Can't you see he's brainwashed you? You're not like this. You're not a whore! This isn't the Madi I know!" he told me.

I wrenched myself away from him, my hands covering myself as best as I could. "The Madi you know? The Madi you _knew_ was a broken, little girl who was willing to degrade herself to satisfy _your_ insatiable demands! I was never good enough for you. Why would you ever want someone like that?!" Angry tears welled up in my eyes. "Get out, Rory! You've long since lost all rights to demand _anything_ of me!"

Rory was red in the face, matching the red hair he liked to sport after his rise to fame. He looked as if he was about to blow when he abruptly let me go and walked through the wall without another word.

Edward wrapped me up in the blanket and guided me back to the bed. "Don't listen to him. He doesn't know what he's talking about."

He held me as I cried and cried because I didn't know what to do with all the emotions raging inside me. I loved two men I shouldn't. One was a stranger who had no place in my heart, yet. There was no such thing as love at first sight. The other was a man who had ruthlessly stomped on my heart and left me drowning. He was also the man who thought he had the right to be upset with me for being with someone else!

I couldn't even think about Luke, now. Did that make me a bad person? There was just suddenly so much more on my plate that the problems I had before seemed so trivial.

With any good mood evaporated in a single moment, I didn't know what to do with myself. My mind wandered back to the living people still in the house. Were they still alive? Everything had gone quiet for a while.

I moodily slipped my nightie back on and the two of us looked around to see if there were still any living souls here. Luckily, we found Shelby and Dominic amongst the gaggle of spirits who were taking sick pleasure in their fear. Some of the spirits even shook the curtains and turned off the lights to make them jump and scream.

With a shake of my head, I went up to the couple to see what they were staring at. Out the window was a large mob. They had torches and pitchforks as if they were going on a witch hunt. In front of the cheering crowd was the mangled body of Agnes. Her head had been split open. The blood pooled beneath her corpse.

The poor thing should never have come here. As far as I could tell from what Sidney told us, she had not been invited back for the sequel. Did her need for fame drive her back to this accursed place? Was greed the thing that attracted the dark spirit to possess her?

"What are we going to do?" Shelby cried. Her hand covered her mouth, trying to muffle the scream that would alert the mob of their location.

Dominic let out a shaky breath. "I don't know."

"Edward, stay here. I'm going to quickly check around to see if there's anywhere else they can go," I told him, heading towards the back of the house.

He didn't say anything. His eyes were fixated on the scene below.

I wanted to check if he was alright, but I had to deal with the living situation first. I didn't have any time to lose.

First, I peeked through the back window. There were stragglers there, but nothing like the front. I also checked the basement where the tunnel was. Down there, I was immediately greeted with the sight of Matt's caved in head. The weapon had been cast aside beside the body.

"What happened to you?" I breathed.

"Shelby happened to me," a voice growled angrily from behind.

I turned and saw Matt looking as if he was about to commit murder himself. His dark eyes glinted angrily back at me. "What do you mean? Shelby doesn't seem like a person who would – "

"Oh, she did," he replied. "She likes to look all innocent and frightful all the time, but she's unstable. I know she's cheated on me more than once. It wasn't just Dominic. She's a sex addict! And after the show, it only got worse."

My eyes went impossibly wide as he continued. I would never have suspected it of Shelby, but I had also only known her very briefly. Then again, my judgment of Rory had also been wrong and I knew him since I was a child.

"And now, _this_!" He gestured to his dead body. "She's probably wanted to do this for a while. I should've been more careful. This house…" He let out a frustrated shout. "It's like it brings out the worst in us. All I want to do, right now, is run up there and strangle her!"

"But you haven't," I told him. "You've stayed down here. Why?"

He looked away. The anger suddenly seemed to dissipate. "Because I still love her… Even though she's cheated and lied… Even though she's k-killed… I still love her. Pathetic, isn't it?"

I shook my head. "No, it's not." I thought back to my own time with Rory. "You can't help who you love. It starts tearing you up from the inside, but you'd still go back for more because living without them feels even worse than withstanding all their infidelity and abuse."

He nodded. "It's happened to you, too. IT's Rory, isn't it? I think everyone knew that there was history between the two of you and Audrey was going crazy because of all the sexual tension."

"Yeah… But it's all in the past, now," I said. "I… It doesn't matter. Shelby and Dominic, I know that this might not exactly be what you want to think about, right now, but they're in trouble. If they don't leave, they're going to join us here in this fuckin' mad house."

"I'll help," he replied without hesitation. "I don't want them to die. Besides, I also don't want to see them flaunting their relationship if they do die here. AN eternity is pretty long, you know?"

I smiled.

Matt was a good guy.

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Sorry, I didn't update last week. I was a bit swamped with work and making all my cards and wrapping presents! Updating schedule should return to normal!

Thank you **Vivi H88, Mystery Angle, Brookie Twiling, Applejax XD** , guest ( **Guest, Guest, anonymouscsifan, Guest** )

 **Guest** : Haha! I kind of do, too… I'll see what I can do :P

 **Vivi H88** : Thank you!

 **Guest** : I thought about killing everyone in the story, but I guess Luke can go off. Hehe… Rory deserves to suffer for a bit for breaking Madi's heart!

 **anonymouscsifan** : Rory is turning into a puddle of green goo… And I'd love to see a season about aliens and not just in the way that Asylum had done. I'm really curious about what happened to Kit, too!

 **Mystery Angle** : Thank you so much! I hope finals went well for you!

 **Guest** : Hehe… Nope, Rory isn't liking this new found connection between Edward and Madi.

 **Brookie Twiling** : Aaaah… My fingers are failing me D: Thanks for proofreading my work! Nope… Those nurses are just plain stupid… Can't imagine why they'd want to exist in an overcrowded house! Rory isn't on the right path for Madi's affection at all… He's completely lost himself on the path to advancing his career. Not a lot of good that's done him, now…

 **Applejax XD** : I'm glad he's safe too!

Thank you as well to everyone who's favourited and followed this story.

Please, leave a review if you enjoyed this!


	16. Chapter 16

**CHAPTER SIXTEEN**

We went back upstairs to look for Shelby and Dominic, but they were both already gone. The only ones left were the cackling spirits who all turned to us as we approached. Edward was also noticeable missing.

"Where did they go?" I demanded, but they merely laughed at me. I shook my head and was about to look for them myself, when Matt marched right up to one of the lanky spirits and pulled him up by his collar.

"Tell me where they are!" he shouted. His voice echoed in the house. I wondered if even the living heard him. " _TELL ME_!"

The spirit gulped and pointed a shaky finger up the stairs. "B-bathroom…"

With a huff, Matt let go of the trembling spirit. No one was laughing, now. I followed him up the stairs and held my breath when he pushed the door open.

There was immediately a clatter that hit the tile. Shelby looked startled when the door opened by itself. "S-stop…" she sobbed. "I'm sorry, Matt. I never meant to k-kill you… I'm so sorry. I love you." She reached again for the small blade that she dropped and pointed it at her neck. "I don't deserve to live, not after what I've done."

Matt immediately lunged at her and ripped the knife from her hand.

She gaped at what just happened. "M-Matt…?"

"Tell me how to talk to her," Matt asked me. I didn't know the exact science to it, but I told him everything that Edward taught me. I slipped my hand into his and hoped for the best.

He took in a deep breath. Several minutes had passed before I felt the tug at my gut. The warmth from within travelled up my arm and out through my finger tips.

"Oh, my God! Are you really here?" Shelby continued to stare at her late husband in disbelief. Matt smiled sadly back at her. "Yeah, it's me, but I can't be here for long. I just wanted to tell you that… I never stopped loving you, even after what you've done – what _I've_ done. I was only with her as revenge. I never cared for her, at all."

Shelby let out a sob. "And I k-killed you." She reached forward to try to touch his face and he kissed her palm. "What have I done? Ever since we bought the place, it's as if everything is suddenly wrong with us. I love you so much. I never wanted to hurt you like I did."

I looked away. This seemed too private for me to watch, but I couldn't let go or he was going to flicker back out. At least they were making up. At least they had an excuse for their infidelities.

"I promise I'll never stop loving you," Matt told her. "But I have to go, soon, and I want you to be safe. There's a tunnel down in the basement where you can exit from. Get out and never come back. Warn everyone else to never come here."

"No! I won't leave you, again!" She flung her arms around him and sobbed into his chest. "Will you come with me?"

Matt looked at me, but I shook my head. There was no way we were ever going to be able to leave this place. "I can't, but I want to know that you're going to be okay. I know you'll find someone else who will love you as much as I do."

"I don't want them. I only want you," she protested.

He kissed her lips, softly. "You have to and I know you will."

She stared at him with teary eyes. "I can join y – "

"No!" he exclaimed. "Just listen to me for once. Leave this place and never look back."

The tug at my gut was beginning to become painful. "Matt…" I didn't want to interrupt, but the pain was growing quickly.

"I'm almost done," he hissed quietly at me.

Shelby had a confused expression on her face. 'Who are you talking to?"

"You can't see her?" He glanced back at me, but the pain was nearly unbearable. I was bent over with a death grip on his hand. "I have to go. Leave, Shelby. I'll try my best to protect you, I – "

I let out a cry before a pair of arms pulled me back, separating me from Matt.

"Matt?!" Shelby called out when he suddenly disappeared.

"What the Hell do you think you're doing?! Can't you see you were hurting her?" At first, I thought it was Edward, but when my vision cleared and the pain slowly dissipated, I saw that it was actually Rory who had me against his chest.

"I only wanted to help Shelby!" Matt defended himself. "Look, I need to get her out of here. After, I'll get on my knees and grovel for forgiveness if that will make it better."

I waved my hand at him, understanding his urgency. "Go. Do what you have to do," I mumbled.

Had it hurt that much for Edward? Or perhaps I was just too weak to lend anyone my strength.

"Thank you, Madison. I'm really sorry."

When he was gone, my legs finally gave out. Rory placed his hand beneath my knees and scooped me up. "Let go…" I half-heartedly argued, but I was too tired to put up much of a fight.

He carried me on to the soft bed of a familiar room. "Stay here. Rest."

My eyes fluttered closed. I was in between states. I was asleep, yet awake and aware of everything that was happening around me, but I could also feel my strength slowly returning.

The bed dipped down beside me a hand ran through my hair, while he whispered into my care. "I'm sorry, Madi. I know I've been the worst thing that could happen to you. Hell, if it wasn't for me, you wouldn't have even been here. You wouldn't be head and you wouldn't be stuck here. This is all my fault."

I wanted to open my eyes and tell him that I was still awake. I wanted to yell and shout at him. I wanted to cry and kiss him, but my body refused to listen to me. This was torturous. I didn't want to see this side of him, again. It was better if he remained despicable and I could continue hating him more than I loved him.

"Now, I have to see you fucking that pompous ass. Does he remind you of me? Is that why? I'm right here, Madi. If you gave me another chance, I swear that I'll never treat you wrong, again." He kissed my forehead. "Give me a second chance, _please_."

…

Rory sighed, lying back down on the pillow as she continued to slumber. She was so beautiful. He never thought he would see her in this position, again. If he closed his eyes, he could almost imagine that everything was alright, again, but then, he could see that bastard holding her, kissing her, wrapped in her warm, soft flesh.

He could feel his own pants tighter when he remembered her erotic cries and how her back arched in pleasure. Even though he hated seeing them together, while he couldn't even touch her, he also found that it aroused him. He never thought that watching her do these things to other men would make him feel this way. Was there something wrong with him? Could it be because this Edward had his face and he was imagining that I was him who was holding her close?

A growl rumbled out of him. His desire to throw off the cover and tear away that skimpy nightie grew. The lust had hit him so hard that it even frightened him. He was obviously no stranger to sex, but he had never felt something so primal. He was on the verge of going caveman on her.

Unable to hold back any longer, he scooted closer to her. He went closer and closer until he had her flushed against him. Her soft curves fit so perfectly to his body.

His hand wandered to her stomach, up to her breasts. He growled, remembering how wonderful they felt in his hands. She was so beautiful, but the thin fabric was still in the way.

He tugged impatiently at it, but when he felt her twitch, his conscience came rushing back. He quickly retracted his hand and backed away from her. What was he doing? He couldn't possible have thought of… _raping_ her, did he? And she was unconscious! She couldn't even put up a fight! What kind of monster was he becoming? He knew there was a better way to earn her back and this was definitely not it.

"God, damn it!" he cursed loudly before getting out of the bed. He could see her stirring and he didn't want to explain himself.

As soon as he phased out of the wall, he immediately stopped in front of Edward who was regarding him with narrowed eyes. "What were you doing in there?" the geezer demanded.

Rory sneered back at him. "None of your damn business." With that, he stomped off to cool down. He had a problem downstairs and he wondered if the other man was able to see it. He really didn't want anyone to find out what he had almost done to her.

He went into the kitchen and was about to raid the fridge when he remembered that he couldn't exactly do that anymore. The action had been so natural. He always ate whenever he was upset, but he couldn't do that anymore. He was going to have to change most of his habits.

Loneliness began to creep up on him. He didn't have anyone here. He was not an actor. He was not a lover. He wasn't even alive. He was nobody in a strange house full of strange spirits.

"Look at that hot piece of meat," he heard snickering from behind him.

He turned and saw two women leaning against the wall. From their old, dirtied nurse outfits, he assumed they were the two murderous nurse aides who had been killing their patients in this house. They were the ones who had painted the word MURDE on the wall above the fireplace.

"What do you want?" He glared at them.

The brunette smiled coyly at him, sauntering over. "Don't be like that. I'm Miranda." She sidled up to him and ran a finger down his chest.

Two arms wrapped around Miranda from behind. The blonde gave her a kiss on the neck. "I'm Bridget. Haven't you ever fantasised about being with two sisters at once? Doesn't it thrill you to have us both catering to your… every… need?"

Rory took several steps back. "Look, I'm not interested. Go find someone else to play with." By the way they were interacting, he wondered if they were in some sort of incestuous relationship.

He quickly turned away from the sisters. They weren't people he wanted to deal with, especially when he was already feeling so out of his element, but they were persistent. They followed him around, making lewd comments.

"Look at those arms," Bridget purred, reaching out to touch him, but he quickly stepped away. "And those legs… He had big shoes, doesn't he? What do those people say about shoe size?"

They both snickered.

"I'd love to ride that big, hard cock of his," Miranda moaned obscenely, touching herself.

Her sister happily joined in, tugging away at the brunette's clothes, until both were naked. He could feel their eyes on him as he tried his best to ignore them. He focused his attention on the television, until they moved in front of him. Their cries and moans were annoyingly loud. He could see that slowly, the other spirits left the room, while the sisters… went at it. Only one remained. It was an older gentleman who wanted in on the action, but the women pushed him away, so the man brought himself to completion. It only took a few seconds and then, he was lying lazily, watching the ladies continue to play.

Rory stood up in annoyance and moved back upstairs. He didn't want to check the room, worried that Madi would be wrapped up in _his_ arms, again. The sisters had also killed his erection and he didn't want to bring it back any time soon. It was like some monster with a mind of its own. He glanced down at the spot between his legs. The offending thing remained innocently out of sight.

"Hey, man. You're here, too, are you?" a familiar voice greeted him from behind.

He saw Matt looking exhaustedly back at him. "Hey, I didn't expect to see you here. When did, uh… _it_ happen to you?"

Matt rubbed his eyes. "Too long, it already feels like."

"What've you been doing? I haven't seen you around, until now and I've been all around this house," he inquired.

"I was helping Shelby out of here," he replied. "Not sure what happened, but one moment I was following and pulling those bastards away from her, the next, I was back in this frickin' house."

"It's the barrier. There's something keeping us here," he sighed.

"Yeah, I figured." Matt sounded particularly irritated, but Rory couldn't blame him. Dying would ruin anyone's mood.

The two of them decided to hang out in the kitchen, lamenting all the food that was going to rot in there. They each shared their stories, telling tips and tricks. It was like two freshmen trying to survive school, again.

And then, they both talked about the women in their lives. Rory found that even Matt knew Audrey had been cheating on him the entire time. He also learned that Shelby hadn't been much better. It seemed that fame really changed people.

Even Madi had become someone completely different. She had been in a relationship with her agent, then that pompous bastard. That man was a stranger! How could she trust him – _like_ him – over Rory? He just couldn't wrap his mind around that. That old fart was probably full of dirty secrets and the age difference! Did she even consider how much older he was? That man was a _cradle robber_!

He had to get her away from him. He just needed to show that _Edward Mott_ wasn't right for her!

A pair of arms suddenly wrapped around him from behind. He sighed, leaning into the person. His thoughts had still been on her when the voice cut through his fantasy.

"I knew you'd warm up to me, sugar," Miranda purred, stroking his face.

He recoiled back so quickly that he had gone toppling off his chair. To make things worse, Madi and the pompous ass had just walked in.

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

 **HAPPY NEW YEAR!** (Almost… I don't know whether to say it now or next chapter, but… Yeah :D I'll mention it again next week!)

Thank you **AGBreads, Vivi H88, Mystery Angle, Brookie Twiling** , guests ( **Guest, anonymouscsifan, Guest** ) for reviewing!

 **Guest** : A little bit of Rory and Madi this time! But how long is it going to last?

 **AGBreads** : In terms of Guinness, it's up to Edward if he wants to mention his little guilty pleasures :P

 **anonymouscsifan** : I thought about including Matt's indiscretions in the story, but he probably didn't want to tell everyone about that, especially when he's stuck with them. Hope you had a good Christmas!

 **Vivi H88** : Thank you! Hope your Christmas was wonderful!

 **Mystery Angle** : Thank you! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 **Brookie Twiling** : Matt's tale is… both truth and lies. Rory needs to get his act together… Poor Madi can't help herself.

 **Guest** : I really didn't like Rory for Rory in the show, but… I'll give him a chance just because he's Evan Peters. Hehe… I'm so bias… Also, yes! I kind of really want to write a story on Cult. I love Kai Anderson almost as much as Tate, but not quite (Those psychopaths are so interesting…). I'm probably going to change a lot of things about it, though. The timeline of the story is really confusing for me. I can't seem to place exactly what happened when. And thank you! I don't feel pressured at all!

Thank you as well to everyone who has favourited and followed this story!

Please, leave a review if you enjoyed this!


	17. Chapter 17

**CHAPTER SEVENTEEN**

I stared blankly at the scene in front of me. Matt was sitting at the kitchen table with mouth hanging, while Rory was on the floor, rubbing his lower back. The brunette nurse was smirking down at him and I wondered what they were doing together.

Rory caught my eyes and tried to stand up, but hit his head on the table and let out a groan of pain.

Beside me, I could see Edward shaking his own head. "Come on." He wrapped his arm around my waist and led me away from the trio. I really didn't want to think about why the nurse was there, especially after seeing what they had done to his dead body, but what did it mean?

One moment, he was fondling me, while he thought I was unconscious, the next moment, I see him with that murderous slut. Why was he giving me mixed signals? I knew we weren't together anymore, but if he'd stop playing with my feelings, it'd be much appreciated. It felt as if he still thought we were still in the same situation as before.

He was being his silly self, maybe a bit seductive and then, he'd have his trysts on the side, while I tried my best to keep him. That wasn't going to happen, again. I was going to be my own person, even if it meant having to die before I could accomplish it.

"What was he doing to you while he was in there?" Edward asked me as he walked out. It was a clear night. The moon was blood red. Was that why all the spirits were acting? Was that why I felt as if I could tear Edward's clothes again and jump in him?

I suppressed a groan, rubbing my eyes to try to clear my thoughts. I had never thought of sex so much before. It was so distracting.

"Madi?"

"Sorry. What was the question?" I asked him, shaking away the lust that was building at the pit of my stomach.

He chuckled. "Where has your head gone? I was just wondering if he did anything to you, while he was in there. I didn't expect to find the two of you in the room together."

It was strange. His voice didn't sound accusatory. He didn't seem jealous. Did he trust me enough not to cheat on him or had our relationship been so superficial that the prospect wouldn't even affect him? "Umm… Nothing. He carried me there after I helped Matt contact Shelby. It kind of zapped away all my energy. He left right after he tucked me into bed," I half lied.

Edward sighed. "You're not strong enough to channel energy, yet. If you over do it, it may be…. fatal. I don't know what happened to the spirits who had tried that over the years, but it's as if they lose themselves. They go crazy. I don't want that to happen to you, Madi."

"Don't worry." I pat his arm. "I'm fine. I was bit tried, but after some rest, I'm right as rain."

He smiled back at me. "I'm glad. Since dying, you've been the only good in my life. I don't want to lose you." He gently cupped my cheeks as we stopped by the edge of the forest. "I swear, I'll do right by you."

I looked into his dark eyes that caught the glow of the red moon. "Edward…"

"It's too soon, I understand. Don't worry about it right now. I don't want to make you uncomfortable." He led me back into the house where all Hell seemed to have broken loose. There was screaming and shouting upstairs.

We walked in further and saw a strange half naked figure in a pig mask. Whoever that was immediately made Edward wary. "Let's go."

"No, wait…" I saw a body on the floor in front of the lunatic. "Who's that?"

"Madi, let's go." He tugged my hand, but I was pulling us up the stairs. When we reached the top, I let out a gasp.

 _Dominic!_

He was barely recognisable. His entire body had been chopped to pieces and only half of his bloody face stared back frightfully at me. The other half was lost in the mess of his other parts.

The pigman lifted his head to look at us. His large knife was poised above his head and he looked ready to charge at us.

It didn't seem as if he cared that we were already dead.

"Run!" Edward yelled at me.

We raced back down the stairs and out the door, stopping in front of the mob that was still loitering around. They jeered and shouted at us, but we ran past them and into the forest where the trees masked the madness of the cursed plantation.

"I-Is he still following u-us?" I asked, afraid to look back.

"No, we're alone," Edward replied. "It's safe, now. At least, until we bump into them, again." He plopped down on to the ground and pulled me down into his lap. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

I shook my head. "It was my fault. I should've listened to you. Are there more like him in the house?"

"He's one of the ones who had gone a bit… mad," he told me. "But he follows the order of Scathach. She was the one who killed him and now, he follows her orders. If he doesn't, she'd hurt him. There's no escape from the pain, not when you're dead…" His eyes went downcast as I realised that he must've experienced it first hand in the past.

I kissed him. "Do they still hurt you?"

"Not anymore. They've lost interest in me. If I had been the only one just then, they wouldn't have even bothered sparing me any attention. They like to play with fresh meat before they've been… broken in." His voice was small, reminding me of a beaten child.

"You're not broken," I told him. "You're strong. Whatever they've done to you, it's only made you stronger because you're still here. You're still the same, unlike the rest of those spirits."

He gave me a weak smile and held me as the night slowly passed. The red moon became nothing but a faint trace in the sky before it was consumed by the radiance of the sun.

Oddly enough, it was perfectly comfortable on that forest ground. His arms were wrapped tightly around me and every once in a while, we'd leave random kisses on each other. I, now, knew that this relationship was more than just sex. We had a connection that could not be explained. Something was pulling me to him and I had no willpower to stop it, but this time, I wasn't going to bend over backwards for anyone. If they wanted me to change, they could go find someone else because this only meant that whatever I was feeling couldn't possibly be real. I was not going to let anyone else ruin me the way he did.

"What's wrong?" Edward whispered when he noticed me tensing.

"Nothing. We should probably go back." I didn't want to return to the house, but I didn't have much of a choice. There weren't a lot of places we could go.

We slowly walked through the forest, enjoying the peace of quiet a little longer before being greeted by a gory scene. It seemed like most of the cast were going to stay here, after all.

Monet was the latest victim. He body was impaled in the centre of the foyer. Blood was, of course, everywhere. I really hoped that we could clean this place up. I didn't want to have to stay in this pigsty for an eternity.

Was it horrible that I was already desensitised to their deaths? I wanted so badly to help them, before, but the more I heard about them… the more I saw each of them die… the more time I spent in this place… Their lives mattered less and less to me.

Was I going to end up becoming one of the crazies? I had only been here for a few days and I was already losing my empathy for these people or was it people in general?

"Hey, come back to me." Edward pulled me out of my train of thoughts and turned me to face him. "I know that look. Don't go too deep. I've lost some friends who delved too far into it and… it's not good, Madi. I'm here. Let's take things as they come, alright?"

I nodded, hoping that he was wrong. Were thoughts another enemy I had to protect myself against? I didn't think I could do that.

"Look at this mess!" Monet appeared out of nowhere, not even fazed by the sight of her own dead body. "If those bitches ever show their faces here, again, I'm going to kill them and see how _they'll_ react!"

"The nurses?" I asked her, hoping that there weren't any other murderers I'd have to deal with.

"Nurses? Hell, no! Audrey and Lee! They were the ones who pushed me! All because I found out that Lee really _did_ kill her fuckin' husband. That woman is an absolute lunatic!"

Lee? She seemed so calm whenever I was around. Granted, she was never in the centre of my attention. "I'm sorry, Monet."

She sighed. "Whatever. So I guess you're dead, too? I was wondering why there was so much commotion upstairs. I thought you and your red hot boyfriend were just getting into some kinky shit."

My eyes widened as I quickly denied everything and explained to her what really happened. When I was done, her eyes wandered to Edward who had been silent the entire time.

"So did Rory die in his costume or something? Or have the two of you been doing kinky shit. I mean, everyone saw how you guys were on set. Whew! I thought I was going to burst into flames." She fanned herself to emphasise her point.

"No!" I exclaimed. "It's nothing like that."

She raised her eyebrow at where our hands were still entwined.

"I'm sure that we do look quite similar, but I can you that I am _not_ Rory Monahan and I will never be like him." His more sophisticated speech was all it took to convince Monet that the man beside me was nothing like the actor, but she took a step closer to inspect him.

"My God! The resemblance is uncanny. Are you relatives or something?"

Edward looked sad as he always did whenever his family was mentioned. "Perhaps. I never got to watch my son grow up after I died."

"I'm sorry…" she awkwardly muttered.

I frowned. Something about his story didn't quite add up. Where did I hear that his son had died and his wife shortly after? Or had that merely been what was believed after years of stories being passed down?

"Thank you. It's something I've come to terms with, but whenever I think about my wife and son, it does make me lament over them." He looked towards the stairs when his counterpart made his way down.

"Damn! Now, _that's_ uncanny. Having the two of you in one room is making my head spin." She turned to Rory. "So did your wife survive? I don't see her anywhere."

He gave a small shrug. "I don't know. I followed the three of you as far as I could go and then, I was bounced back here when we reached the stupid barrier."

"Followed us, huh? So you weren't there when we came back to hide from those crazy hicks around here?" she huffed.

Rory shot her a confused look.

"You didn't… Well! Her and that husband-murdering Lee pushed me off that balcony and killed me! You see that body there?"

The redhead averted his eyes from the scene. "Sorry…" Everyone seemed to be apologizing a lot. It seemed like that was all we could say when we were talking to the other dead person.

As we all stood awkwardly in the room, the door suddenly burst open and two men in uniform came storming in.

The cops were finally here. Of course, they'd be too late. It was just how life was. Help always came too late.

They walked through the entire house, observing all the bloodshed that had occurred in the past few days. Most of the bodies weren't around anymore. The only missing one I had seen was Rory's in the forest. I didn't know where mine had gone. I could only hope that it would be found and when this entire thing hit the news, they weren't going to drag my name through the mud anymore than they already had.

It wasn't long before we all relocated out of the foyer. There was no point staying together as most of them were strangers to me and I never had a chance to get to know them, but Rory followed Edward and me upstairs to the outside balcony. It was then did I spot the bodies on stakes. They were burnt black. I couldn't recognize their body shapes and Rory didn't think it was Audrey, either. Could Lee be one of them? Or perhaps they were part of the production team?

We, soon, found out that neither assumption were correct. Three teenagers appeared. They were all arguing and putting the blame on each other.

Sophie, Milo, and Todd. They were going to be an interesting addition to the household.

"I told you there is paranormal activity here!" Sophie exclaimed after we explained as much as we could to them.

Todd groaned. "I rather not know and still be alive. This is so stupid."

"Hey, at least we'll never have to worry about chores anymore and we can go anywhere we want." Unfortunately, we had to burst Milo's bubble when we told them about the barrier. "Aw, man… That sucks ass!"

Despite their complaints, the three of them adapted surprisingly well to their unfortunately situation. They were exploring the house with excitement and tried to get to know all the resident spirits, until one of them killed Milo. The other two freaked out, while I tried to explain that he would return shortly. It wasn't until he reappear did they finally calm down.

Seeing that they were going to be fine on their own, we left them alone to laze on the couch in front of the old television set, wondering how long it was going to be before they cut the cable. Sidney's company was probably paying for it to keep us from all going crazy. It didn't help when we were alive, but afterwards, it was definitely useful.

We all crowded around the screen, watching the news channel broadcast our deaths. It was so strange.

And as expected, they thought I had killed myself. At least they didn't pin me for the other murders.

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

This story is slowly coming to an end. Probably a couple more chapters. Would you guys like to see a Cult story? If so, what should the title be? I'm aiming for the same format of a 6 letter V word.

Thank you **Vivi H88** , guests ( **Guest, anonymouscsifan, Guest** ) for reviewing!

 **Vivi H88** : Thank you!

 **Guest** : I think Rory will forever be jealous. I personally cannot forgive a cheater, but… I guess we'll see how Madi will respond.

 **anonymouscsifan** : Hehe… Rory getting his just desserts. Well, I mean… No dessert for him Muahahahaha!

 **Guest** : I kinda hated how everyone just died in the show, sooooo lots of changes! Kinda… I'm not sure who she'll pick either! Madi is so fickle sometimes…

Thank you as well to everyone who has favourited and followed this story.

Please, leave a review if you enjoyed this!


	18. Chapter 18

**CHAPTER EIGHTEEN**

He ran his tongue up my inner thigh, leaving a cold trail that left me shivering with anticipation. "Please… stop teasing me," I begged.

I could feel his grin against my skin. What a wicked, wicked man…

I grabbed his hair and pulled him up for a kiss.

"So impatient," he purred, shifting his hip so that he was positioned right at my entrance, probing the wetness that he had caused.

I arched my back, hoping that he'd spare me some mercy, but he merely chuckled, continuing to move just slightly out of reach. "Tell me how much you want this."

When I opened my mouth, all I managed was a low moan as he took a stiff nipple and swirled it with his tongue. His dark – almost black – eyes were still fixated on me, watching me suffer beneath him.

"Not enough it seems." He began to get up, but I pulled him back down. He landed heavily back on the bed with a startled look on his face. His elbows had instinctively supported his weight from falling completely on me. "I could've hurt you!"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm dead, Edward. There's not much you can do to permanently damage me. Now, stop being such a tease and just give it to me!"

He chuckled at my impatience, but finally decided to comply with my demands. He slid his finger into my folds and quickly brought me screaming.

"That was nice, but I think it could be better," I teased back, running a finger lightly along his hard member.

He groaned, crashing his lips on mine. "You're so beautiful, Madi."

"Then show me," I breathed, feeling him finally push inside. I threw my head back. The sensation of him stretching me made me nearly cum, again.

He buried himself to the hilt before pulling out nearly all the way and pushing back in. He felt so good.

"God damn it! Can you two tone it down?!"

I turned my head to the side where Rory had his own cock in his hand. He had gotten into the habit of watching us over the past month since we ended up here.

At first, we tried to get him to leave us alone, but since there was no way of preventing him from staying here, we tried our best to ignore his presence. He didn't always jerk off to our intimate moments, but I knew that what we were doing was turning him on and I loved making him suffer, knowing that he wasn't allowed to touch.

It made him frustrated and the only thing he could do to get back at me was watch and jerk off, complaining like a big baby.

"You don't have to stay here, you know," I retorted, wrapping my legs around Edward's waist, pushing him deeper into me.

Rory rolled his eyes. "I like you screaming, Madi. You know that. I just don't want anyone else here." He suppressed a shudder and I could tell that he was losing a bit of his hard on. I didn't blame him.

More than once, we had a small crowd around us and the mood was quickly ruined. The worst were the two nurses who always wanted to join in.

Edward hummed, watching Rory working himself back into a full erection. In fact, both of us were watching the redhead as he watched us. It was giving all of us a thrill hat I would never have even contemplated before I needed up here.

Suddenly, he pulled out. I let out a whine, looking back to the man who was on top of me.

"Turn around," he ordered.

I wiggled until my back was pressed against him and he slid back in. His arms were wrapped around my waist as he pulled me backwards.

I let out a shriek and moan when his cock pushed against my cervix. The new position had him buried impossibly deep inside me.

I was sitting in his lap, facing Rory who had his head tilted back and his hooded eyes still transfixed on us.

"Fuck…" Rory shifted.

I began to bounce in Edward's lap, watching Rory move his hands up and down in the same rhythm. It didn't take me long to fall over the edge, screaming and convulsing against him.

Edward sighed, holding me tightly to his chest. "It's almost like looking into a mirror."

"I'd rather be on that side of the reflection," Rory muttered. He had brought himself over with us.

I hummed, lazily lying down on the pillow. "You were until you fucked up and now, we're both here having to tolerate each other's presence."

Rory growled at me before fixing himself and storming off.

"You don't have to keep taunting him like that," Edward hummed against my skin.

True, but if I didn't, I was afraid that I was going to lose myself to him, again. It was still a struggle, even with Edward supporting me all the way. It was strange, but he didn't seem opposed to our strange arrangement, at all. In fact, eh was rather enjoying himself and sometimes, I'd find him staring very intently at Rory.

I closed my eyes, the image of the two of them intimate suddenly forcing its way to my head.

"You're getting wet, again," Edward murmured, his own cock twitching inside me. "What are you thinking about?"

I pushed him deeper into me.

"Tell me," he breathed.

I whimpered. "You and Rory… I've seen you watching."

"And now, you're curious. Did you want me to call him back?" He was thrusting quicker inside me. "Did you want me to fuck him as I'm fucking you, now? Or did you want to see him behind me?"

I let out a cry. My imagination was going wild. "E-Edward!"

"More?"

"Yes. Yes!" I screamed, clenching tightly around him.

Unfortunately, all the noise finally attracted some unwanted attention. Several of the spirits had their heads poking through the walls. I really didn't want to know what they were doing to their bodies where we couldn't see.

We quickly got dressed and went on a walk around the house. After the blood moon, all the spirits seemed to have calmed down to a much more tempered state. Even the Pigman was minding his own business. The only ones remaining constant nuisances were the nurses – Miranda and Brenda. They were the most unbearable duo I had ever had the misfortune to meet. Their presence always ruined whatever romantic mood we'd have.

But overall, staying here really wasn't so bad. It was all about sex, sex, and sex. There wasn't much more in terms of entertainment. The cable had already been out after the first month was over. The only things left were books, old board games, and a pack of playing cards that were several short of fifty-two.

` I went up to the barrier, watching the sun give it a faint shimmer. It was actually quite beautiful if it wasn't keeping us all caged here. "Do you think we'll ever be able to leave?"

He kissed my shoulder. "Only for one day of the year – Hallowe'en, but as soon as it's over, we'll be sent back here."

One day of the year…

I'd probably go visit Luke. I had seen him on the news several times when we still had television. He looked so sad. I needed to check if he was alright.

"Come back." Edward squeezed my hand.

I squeezed him back. "I'm still here. Just wondering what I'm going to do on that day. What do _you_ do every Hallowe'en?"

He shrugged. "I used to just go to a different place every time, but it's been so long that it doesn't really matter anymore."

"Would you go with me out there, then? Protect me from all the other strange spirits?" I grinned at him.

"Whatever you like, my lady." He bowed at me.

It wasn't until the next full moon did everything go to shit, again, and this time, I was also feeling the urge. It was a small nag at the back of my mind, at first. A restlessness that left me on edge. I wanted to do something.

I _needed_ to do something.

If I continued to stay here, I was going to go mad.

I bit my lips, gnawing at I, until drew blood. It was still so strange knowing that I was dead, but I can bleed and somehow die, again.

My teeth continued to press down on the plump flesh, until I was snapped out of my thoughts. Edward looked at me with concern. "I know it's hard, but don't let it take over. You're stronger than that."

I shook my head. "How do you manage? I feel like it's slowly eating me from inside."

"It gets better," he told me. "The newer you are, the easier it is for the darkness to take over. When you're as old as me, you can barely feel it anymore. Just a small annoyance, like a fly in the room.

I crinkled my nose. "I hate this."

He kissed the tip of my nose. "Don't worry. I'll protect you." He started doing that by helping me get rid of the excess energy, or so he said. I figured he only wanted to get into my pants, but I wasn't going to complain.

Unfortunately, Rory just so happened to stumble by. His eyes became dilated and he let out a string of curses. "Here, too? Can't I go anywhere without seeing the two of you fuck?"

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

Sorry, the chapter is a little (a lot!) short.

There is quite a bit more dysfunctional behaviour in the house, now!

Thank you **Mystery Angle, Vivi H88** , guests ( **Guest, anonymouscsifan, Guest** ) for reviewing!

 **Mystery Angle:** Thank you! I'm noting down Vagary as an option for my next story. Yay!

 **Guest:** Edward and Madi are definitely _helping_ each other. Hehe… I hope you like these new moments, too!

 **Vivi H88:** Okay! Thank you so much!

 **anonymouscsifan:** Happy New Year! Sorry for all the typos! I've kinda scanned over everything again for this chapter and used the typical spell check from Microsoft Word, but I know I'm bound to miss a few things. I'm so sorry! Thank you for pointing them out, though! Rory is trying hard to get back into Madi's good graces, but… He can watch, but no touchy!

 **Guest:** Thank you!

Thank you as well to everyone who has favourited and followed this story.

Please, leave a review if you enjoyed this!


	19. Chapter 19

_**Note:**_ _ **Sorry, I ended up editing this chapter when I realised that I was missing a large chunk in the very beginning of the chapter… For all of you coming back to read it. Thank you! Sorry for the confusion.**_

* * *

 **CHAPTER NINETEEN**

I looked sadly at his retreating form. We were going to have to live together. Surely, there had to be a way for us to do it without hurting each other.

"It'll be fine." Edward kissed my shoulder. "I know that he'll come around sooner or later. He's just stubborn."

He sounded so certain that I almost believed. _Almost_. "Thanks, Edward." I pecked his cheek and we headed back to see what everyone else was doing.

"Fuck off, Dominic!" Monet screamed, storming past us soon as we opened the door.

The other man rolled his eyes before noticing our presence. "Don't look at me like that," he said. "I may be head, but I still have my needs. You guys know how that is." He smirked at us.

I shook my head and led Edward up to our room. Inside, I found an unexpected guest. He stared at me. His eyes were nearly pitch black as he lazily stroked himself. He was completely naked and there was no use lying that I was gawking.

"R-Rory?!" I gasped just as the door clicked shut behind me. Edward nuzzled the side of my neck. "Did you know about this?!"

He chuckled, the vibration caused shivers to go down my body. "No, but I was expecting it to happen sooner or later. I just thought that I would've been sooner."

He nudged my back and I took a hesitant step forward. Rory's eyes were still fixated on me as I finally made it to the bed. He didn't reach for me. His hand was still slowly stroking the column of flesh.

I crawled to him, gingerly touching his chest as if trying to figure out whether he was real or not. 'What is wrong with us, Rory?" I whispered. "What do you want from me?"

His other hand seized my wrist. "Just you, Madi. All I want is you and whatever you are willing to give me."

Tears welled up in my eyes and when I flung my arms around him, I felt completely again. He held on to me tightly. "I'm sorry, Madi. I never meant to hurt you. I was blinded by my own selfishness. I swear that if you give me another chance, I'll do better."

The bed dipped beside us and Edward began to tug at my nightie. "You're overdressed, love," he purred.

It was then I realised that I was the only one still clothed. "Wh-What…"

"Relax." Edward pushed me so that I was flushed against Rory. "Let us take care of you."

I swallowed hard, feeling the ache between my legs and Rory's hard arousal pulsing against my stomach. "I promise that this won't hurt much."

Edward left a line of butterfly kisses down the side of my spine as Rory shifted us, until the head of his cock was rubbing against my entrance. He threw his head back, groaning. "I've dreamt of this for so long. I missed you so much." I buried my face into the crook of his neck as he buried himself into me.

Edward rubbed my backside and I wiggled, causing Rory to quickly still my hip. "I won't last if you do that."

And then, I felt Edward enter my from behind. I had never felt so full before. "Madi…" he sighed. "I love you. I've never stopped."

I never had time to process his words as they both began to move inside me. It was as if they could communicate telepathically. They moved in a synchronised rhythm that left me moaning for more.

When I opened my eyes, I saw something that pushed me over the Edward. Edward and Rory were lip-locked. Their tongues entwined.

I never thought that Rory would be interested in men. As I convulsed between them, my walls began to milk their cocks, taking them both down with me.

"Madi!" Edward broke away from Rory to bite my shoulder.

"Oh, God…" Rory groaned, his body went limp as I fell against him. "I love you. I love you."

I sighed, snuggling against him as Edward settled beside us, running his hand up and down my body.

As he watched us with half-hooded eyes, I could've sworn that his eyes were glaring red, but it might've been my exhaustion playing tricks on me. My vision was already darkening around the edges.

…

When I was brought out of my meditative state, I saw that both men were still in bed, but they were speaking quietly to each other.

"Good morning." Edward smiled at me, brushing back my messy bed hair.

"Good morning," I yawned, snuggling closer to him. I had thought that last night was a dream, but clearly, it had happened and I was suddenly very unsure of what I had gotten myself into. While Edward had quickly wormed his way into my heart, there was something about him that made me wary and it wasn't because he was a stranger before I died. No, it was something completely different. There was a part of me that felt as if I knew him. Not just his face, but… there was a familiarity that I couldn't understand. Why?

And my reunion with Rory really needed no explanation. I was fully prepared to have my heart broken, again.

I looked at the redhead and touched the messy strands. Our appearance never changed anymore. It was either this or the state we had died in and most of us preferred the former. That said, I still hated his bottle-red hair.

"I saw the two of you kiss, yesterday," I started. The memory was quick to affect my body.

Edward shrugged. "I love both men and women. After so long, I've fully come to terms that I will never be normal."

I sighed. "What's normal, anyway? We're all ghosts at an old plantation. I doubt that anyone would care if we had a full house orgy, at this point."

An arm snaked around my waist, pulling me against a hard body. "No," Rory mumbled. "I'm not sharing you with anyone else."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "But Edward is alright?"

He shot the eighteenth hundred man a look. "He's fine. He looks like me. It's kind of hot." A smirk quirked his lips and he reached over to the other man, resting his hand on the pale thigh.

Edward hummed. "Indeed."

Needless to say, another round with the two of them washed away all the worries that I had. Being stuck here wasn't so bad, anymore. It could get loud and chaotic with the other residents, but since we couldn't exactly die, again, it was easy ignoring them, now.

At least, everything _seemed_ fine, at first. It wasn't until I was perfectly happy and comfortable did things go awry. And when they did, it was a vertical plummet to reality.

I was lying on Edward's chest when the headaches came. It ripped through my head and darkened my vision.

…

Rory bolted up from his relaxed position on the opposite couch and quickly made his way to her side. She was clutching her head in pain, mumbling nonsense.

"Don't take him away from me…" she sobbed. "Kyle… I love you. Don't leave me…"

He stiffened, hearing the foreign male name. Who was Kyle? Was he a past lover? He had never heard that name before and he knew everyone in her family. Who could it be?

"It's alright, Madi." Edward rocked her against his body, sharing a look with the other man who looked helplessly back at him. "I love you. I'm here."

"Kyle…" She clutched on to his shirt as Rory started, seeing the man change his appearance. Instead of the multi-layered outfit, he was now clad in a casual striped t-shirt. The pompous, white wig was gone, replaced by a head of dirty, blonde curls. Now, Edward looked like Rory before he was famous.

"I'm here, Madi." Edward kissed her forehead as she squinted at him before flinging her arms around his neck, crying into the shirt. "You know that I will never leave you. I promised, didn't I?"

She mumbled something incoherent back before succumbing to the pain, once more.

"What is going on?" Rory demanded. He hated feeling so useless. It was like seeing her break herself for him, again, but this time, this _Edward_ seemed to know what was happening. He didn't like that. He didn't like that this stranger who was sharing Madi's affection appeared to be in full control of the situation. "Who the Hell are you, really?"

When Edward looked up at him, he took a step back when he saw the glaring red eyes fixed on his.

"Jesus Christ… _What_ are you?" he breathed, wondering what had been living with them this entire time.

"That is irrelevant, right now," came the reply. "The important thing is that Madi is remembering far too soon. This shouldn't be happening here."

Looking at Edward more closely, he realised that perhaps the other man wasn't as composed as he thought. He could see the way his jaw clenched and how strained his voice sounded. "Is… Is she going to be okay?" Whatever the case was, she was more important than his own issues.

Edward turned away. "She should be. It has never been so violent before."

Rory shook his head. "Why does it sound like you knew her from before?"

"Because I do," Edward told him, gently stroking her hair as if she was the most precious thing in the world and to them, she was. "You don't know how long I've known her. Even _I've_ lost track."

Rory didn't know what to think, anymore. Once again, nothing was making sense to him. How could Edward have known her for long?

He knelt beside her and placed his head on her legs. "I love you, Madi," he whispered, hoping that she could hear him, but she was completely unresponsive. She had even stopped her frantic muttering.

With a shaky hand, he reached for her wrist before remembering that he didn't have to worry about her physical health, anymore. He dropped her hand and wiped away the stray tear that had leaked out.

Edward sighed. "This is my fault." His arms around her tightened. "I couldn't let her go. I loved her too deeply. I am nothing without her. I am _less_ than nothing without her."

He explained no further, leaving Rory even more confused than he was before.

"Is she okay?" a soft voice asked. Sophie was standing off to the side with her two friends, looking worriedly at them.

Rory didn't know.

When she finally became lucid, again, it was almost as if she had become a completely different person, yet still stayed the same. There was something in the way that she looked at him that made it feel as if she expected something more than he could offer her.

She smiled sadly and told him that she was in good health – as good as being dead could be. The way she looked at Edward also changed as soon as he had taken her to the side to talk to her. He didn't know what it had been about, but no matter how much he pestered them, they refused to say anything. It was infuriating.

Matt tried to reassure him that everything was fine, but what did he know? They were barely friends. Their work had been the only thing connecting them and now, their deaths.

Great…

A week passed before she suddenly crawled into his bed, apologizing for her distant behavior. "I had a lot to think about. I know that it's a poor excuse for neglecting you. I'm really sorry."

She curled up on his chest and he couldn't find it in himself to be angry at her. "I just want to know what the Hell is going on, Madi. I had to sit through you passing out in pain and then, you're suddenly… _I don't know!_ Different…?"

She looked away. "Am I really? It's hard to tell anymore. I had been so afraid, but now, it feels as if it's something I've always known."

He had absolutely no idea what she was talking about and he clearly voiced this displeasure. She fidgeted in his arms, unsure of how to reply.

They remained silent, until Edward walked in, lifting his eyebrow as soon s the thick tension hit him. Instead of pointing anything out, he laid down beside them, running his hand up and down her back.

She sighed contently, her body instantly relaxing. Her hand reached for him and although Rory had been holding her for the past hour, he was jealous at the interaction. It looked so normal as if they had done it a million times. Why wasn't Madi like that with him? Did she still hate him for what he had done to her?

He wanted to pull her away from the face thief, but knew that that would only alienate them further. "I love you, Madi," he mumbled.

She tilted her head and smiled softly back at him. "I love you, too."

Edward sighed. "Just tell him. I know you want to."

"I don't want to hurt him. What if something goes wrong?" She nibbled worriedly at her lips. "What if it'll take away any chance of him remembering on his own? And it's not going to be the same. It'll be like telling him a story."

Rory shook his head. "Stop talking like I'm not here! Stop leaving me in the dark!"

She frowned. "I'm sorry." She kissed his lips. "I swear it'll all make sense, soon. Just trust me, alright?"

With a huff, he knew that he had no choice but to comply. There was nothing he could do about it if the only two people who knew wouldn't speak up.

Several more days passed before anything eventful happened. Matt had been talking to Monet when she suddenly disappeared. His shouts could be heard throughout the entire house, drawing the attention of everyone.

None of them could find Monet. Eventually, they had to accept that she was gone and not coming back. With time, they began to suspect that she had somehow managed to move on. What made her different from the rest? No one seemed to know, but many began to scramble around, trying to find their own escape.

"Are we going to be stuck here forever?" Matt sighed, "I was right beside her! Had I missed whatever chance I got?"

Dominic rolled his eyes. "Why does everyone think she's in heaven or something? Maybe she's in some limbo or Hell. I don't want to waste my time searching for a way to screw myself over!"

Ever since he died, Dominic had shed his smooth, playboy persona. His true self was wretched. Only the old ghosts would even go near him. He had managed to incorporate himself into the nurse's demonic group. They went around causing chaos, until everyone couldn't help but hate them.

"At least we're trying!" Sophie argued. "I don't want to just sit around doing nothing. We're _bored_!"

"Oh, grow up!" Dominic rolled his eyes.

"I would if I still could!" Tears sprung out of her eyes before she ran off, her two friends quickly followed her.

Rory sighed, resting his head on Madi's stomach. Her hand ran through his hair, slowly brushing away the headache that was growing. Who knew that the dead could still feel pain? This really sucked.

"Are you alright?" she asked him. Her hand touched his forehead, but after a moment, she moved it away, again. It didn't help anything to take his temperature, anymore. The instinctive movement made him sad. They were never going to enjoy the simple things of life, anymore.

He reached for the retreating hand and kissed it. "I'm fine." His eyes shut and he managed to tune out most of the banter.

A hand gripped his legs, lifting them before placing them back down into a lap. He peeked out to see Edward leaning forward to kiss Madi.

"He'll be fine," he told her. "He's just going through what you did. Are you excited?" There was a tinge of jealousy in the voice that Rory had never heard before, especially when referring to himself. He thought that they had some sort of truce. Had that changed?

She giggled. "You sound jealous." It seemed that she noticed, too.

"Just wondering how much longer I'll have you for." The jealousy had turned to sadness. "How long before I have to stand on the side, watching you, but unable to do anything?"

Madi remained quiet, but she intertwined their hands. They rested on Rory's chest.

Another stab of pain cut through his skull and he suddenly found himself somewhere else. The images flashed by so quickly that he couldn't comprehend anything. IT was as if he had been pushed on to a supersonic conveyor belt and he wanted to stop to see where he was, but he couldn't. Every once in a while, he'd spot her amongst the blur – her smiles, her laughter, her love, her sadness, her betrayal, her… her death.

He didn't want to see any more.

But there was nowhere to go. HE was forced to watch it all, completely helpless. Nothing made sense. All he knew was that she kept dying and there was no way to stop it.

"Madi…" he whimpered, watching another image of her broken form pass by. "At this point, he had difficulty deciphering what was real and what was… whatever it was. "I'm sorry… I'm sorry… I'm sorry!" He couldn't save her. How many times? How many more times did he have to stand by and let her die?

"Rory!" her voice called out to him. She sounded so distant. "Rory!"

He looked around, trying to find her, but she was nowhere in sight. "Madi! Where are you?"

Waiting, he heard no more from her, causing him to panic. Where had she gone? They hadn't taken her, had they?

As soon as the question popped up in his head, he was confused. Why did he think that? "Madi!" he called out, again.

A hand grabbed his shoulders and with a violent shake, he was pulled away from the deepest, darkest parts of his mind.

When he was back in the house, a concerned look was on her face.

And as his hand touched her cheek, wiping away the tears, he let out a groan. "Madi… My Madi…"

It was as if he was truly seeing her, again.

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

Sooooo how many of you are confused, right now? Or do you guys have theories?

Thank you **Vivi H88** , guests ( **Guest, anonymouscsifan, Guest** ) for reviewing!

 **Guest** : Hehe… Like what's kind of happening now?

 **Vivi H88** : Thank you!

 **anonymouscsifan** : Rory finally gets some action… kinda… Well, maybe a bit more than he could chew.

 **Guest** : Maaaaaybe yes?

Thank you as well to everyone who has favourited and followed this story.

Please, leave a review if you enjoyed this!


	20. Chapter 20

**CHAPTER TWENTY**

I let out a bubble of laughter when his eyes opened. I knew, then, that he had also remembered. We were finally as we should be, but why were we still here? Every time I woke up after dying, I'd be in the cottage, sitting in front of a warm fire. It wasn't the worst thing to see upon the death and it had the most comfortable bed there. I just didn't know exactly what that place was or why I was there.

There was never anyone else around, but eventually, he'd come and we were able to be content, until the next time we were separated.

I looked at the man sitting beside me. Were his intentions pure or was he still playing games with us? I used to be so frightened of him and then, I grew annoyed that he had us running around in circles and disrupting our happiness, but was it really his fault that nothing ever ended right?

He had looked so sad as he tried to explain his situation. Every part of me was screaming that this was just another layer of deception, but lately, I found myself beginning to trust him. He had seemed so genuine – so desperate.

"Edward…" I never found out his real name, so this would do. "I promise that you won't have to keep watching in the sidelines, anymore. He seems to be alright with the three of us together and if he changes his mind after waking up, I'll talk to him. I can convince him to let you in."

He sighed, looking down at the other man who was still trying to get away from the grips of the Sandman.

I kissed Rory's forehead and as I moved back, his eyes focused on me. "Madi…" The way he said my name made my heart flutter. It was different. It was _more_. _He_ was more. He was still Rory, but he was also the man who hadn't been Rory. No matter who he was, I loved him.

He reached up, resting his hand on my cheek. "My Madi…"

The tears welled up in my eyes. A sob escaped, but for once, it was for happiness. "I love you…" I kissed him as deeply as I could.

No matter what he had done to me, it didn't matter anymore. There had been so much more of him that I loved unconditionally. It was also not the first time we had hurt each other and it surely wasn't going to be the last, but nothing was going to tear us apart.

"How are you feeling?" I murmured, running my hand through his hand.

He sighed. "Good. I'm feeling very good."

Indeed. After I regained my memories, death was just a second home. It was something that had always been there and not necessarily unpleasant.

His eyes went over to Edward who was quietly observing everything with slightly narrowed eyes. The red glint was slowly spreading through his iris, giving him the eerie aura that I was so used to. "Edward?"

The red orbs snapped to me before a smirk stretched across his lips. "Madi?"

I shook my head. Hew as in a playful mood still. That was good. The problem was not knowing how long it was going to last. This had been the longest I had been with him without seeing his outbursts. "How are we still here? Is it because of you? Are you keeping us here like this, somehow?"

He shrugged. "I'm as confused as you are. As much as I'd like to take the credit for it, I can't. Someone or something else is controlling us." But he seemed to know what the cause was. He just didn't want to tell me. It was so typical of him that I couldn't even be frustrated anymore. It was simply something I had to accept.

Looking around, I noticed that everyone had already disappeared. The drama had resolved itself, while we were being distracted with our own problems. "Let's get out of here. I think my legs have fallen asleep."

Rory grinned sheepishly at me before getting off.

The three of us took a short stroll around the property. The trees were rustling loudly and the sun was already setting down the horizon. Something dark fluttered away from the corner of my eyes.

I went over to the large rock and found a single black feather. A crow? Frowning, I picked up the soft feather and decided to keep it. Why not? There weren't a lot of new things around here and it was pretty.

Going back to Rory and Edward, we eventually settled on a clearing in the forest. It was a place where the Lost Colony had left alone. The flowers were blooming here and instead of the usual dead grass, it was green and luscious.

I rested my head in Edward's lap, while Rory had his on my stomach. It was so peaceful here. Maybe this wasn't so bad. I had them both here and it didn't seem as if anyone was going to break us apart.

That would be nice. I was tired of having to start over every time. I was afraid that one day, I was going to lose them forever. Who knew how long the cycle was going to last? Maybe one day, we were simply going to cease to exist.

A side of me wanted to know what that would be like – to finally find eternal peace and never have to worry about anything anymore, but a more dominant part of me knew that I would never be able to choose anything over him.

I ran my hand through his hair as Edward did the same to me. "Why do you think Monet disappeared?" I asked, looking up at Edward who looked back down at me with a content smile on his face.

"She probably finished whatever unfinished business she had here," he replied.

"What about you? How long have you been here?" I brought his other hand to my lips and kissed the palm.

He sighed. "Far too long, but I haven't always been here. You know that already."

"It's hard to tell how much time passes after I die and then jumping around… It feels as if I've been around for an eternity already, yet it also felt so short – as if I've only just begun living. I'm not making any sense, am I?" I shook my head as the other two chuckled at my rambling.

It was concerning that none of us seemed to know why this was happening. Edward Mordrake had once mentioned that the demon was the reason why we weren't able to move on, but whenever I asked this Edward, he didn't seem to know either.

All he was able to tell me was that I was part of something bigger and until that was fulfilled, we were going to have to continue living and dying.

"Stop thinking about it," Edward whispered. "Let's enjoy the time that we have before we lose it."

Yes, that seemed like a good idea. Why dwell on all that we didn't know and couldn't fix when I could savour what I _did_ have, as short as it may be?

"Are you ever going to tell me who you are?" I reached up, running my finger along his bottom lip and hummed when he began to suck on it.

Not long after, we were all rolling on the grass. Edward hovered over me, his hands working quickly on both our clothes. Rory was already completely naked, stroking both members until they were hard and the head glistened.

I moaned at the sight of them in all their glory. They were so beautiful.

With one smooth movement, Edward had me up and impaled on to him. My chocked cry filled the clearing. Rory kissed the side of my neck. He brushed my hair away before tightly gripping my hips. He slowly slid in behind me.

It was as if they knew what each other was thinking. Each thrust, each stroke was made to compliment the other. Edward leaned forward, capturing Rory's lips. Their breaths caressed my cheek as I felt myself quickly losing control. They were too much together. When they brought me over the edge, they sent me plummeting several times more.

If it wasn't for a loud, dramatic exclamation, we would've continued on into the night. As it were, we looked around for the source, while putting our clothes back on. The last thing we wanted was to have one of the voyeurs gawking at us.

"I know what I saw!" the British accent was familiar.

I could feel Rory's body stiffen beside me. As Audrey Tindall came into view, I watched the redhead, wondering what he was going to do now that his wife was back. I still hated her for taking him for me, but I also hated him for allowing it to happen.

I would like to say that everything was forgiven and forgotten, but that was a lie. It was not forgotten and a part of me would also feel that tinge of hatred for what he had done. This slight seemed to cut just a bit deeper than all the rest.

"They all died in that bloody house!" she continued on. "A-and there were these crazy people who kidnapped us when we were trying to run away!"

Behind her were a camera crew and a woman holding a microphone to her mouth. Was she returning here for some sort of interview? Honestly, if I ever get out of this Hellhole, I was never ever going to return.

"Your husband, Rory Monahan also died here, didn't he?" the reporter asked, her eyes sparkling with intrigue.

Audrey let out a loud sob. "Yes! He was just hanging in a tree! Let me show you where he was." Her voice slowly disappeared into the thickets with the equipment trailing behind her.

I shared a look with Edward, who kissed me behind my ears and whispered, "Don't worry. You'll never have to worry about her again. He's yours."

With his hands clenched to his side, Rory looked as if he was about to explode.

We both waited in silence, until a loud string of curses burst from his lips. "That bitch! Crocodile tears for the camera! I've seen her do that millions of times! That's all my death meant to her, isn't it? Another opportunity for her to rise to fame!"

I blinked.

"Fuck! Don't even know why I married her. Barely even remember the wedding." Running his hand angrily through his hair, continuing to curse her out, while I was trying to suppress the laughter that was bubbling inside me.

"It's okay, love." I wrapped my arms around him, kissing his cheek. "She doesn't matter, anymore."

"As long as no more killed her here," Edward added.

We both groaned. Yes, that could be one of the worst things to happen to us. If she died here, we were going to be stuck with her forever.

To ensure her safely, we had to follow her around as she continued describing everything that had happened to her. The reporter was soaking it all up, urging her to continue, which she happily complied.

Being completely absorbed by my own death when it all happened, I was actually interested on hearing it from another perspective. The thing I was most intrigued about were the maniacs living just outside of the plantation. I had never seen them before, but I kind of wish I could, now that there were no way for them to kill me.

"Let's go. I don't want to listen to her annoying voice, anymore," Rory grumbled, tugging at my hand.

Reluctantly, I allowed him to lead me away.

"I don't ever want to see her, again," he sighed, falling on to the bed beside Edward who ran his hand through his hair, soothing the raging man.

"She won't be here long," I reassured him. "Stay here. I'll make sure that she doesn't end up dying here."

Thankfully, when I returned to the crew, everyone was still alive. The spirits were hovering around them, but they seemed to be hiding their time.

"Miranda!" I barked at her when she began to inch her way towards them.

"Go away! We don't need shithead party poopers like you!" she screamed.

I raised my eyebrow at her. "Come here. I think I have something you may be interested to hear." The plan was already swirling in my mind. This had to be perfect.

Miranda grudgingly shuffled her feet towards me, her sister trailing after. I took them to a corner away from eavesdroppers and crossed my arm. "Look, this is something that will only happen once. We have a common interest here. You want to have your bloodlust sated and I want Ms. Diva gone, but if you kill them all here, we'll have to spend the rest of eternity listening to her talk our ears off. Not what we want, is it? This house is crowded enough because you have absolutely no self-control. All I want is for you to hear me out."

"Why should we listen to you?" Bridget rolled her eyes. "This isn't something you usually go along with, less of all orchestrate."

I narrowed my eyes. "As I said, I just want her gone and not just to see a little blood. I never want to see her face, again, but killing her here only means that she'd be stuck here. Got it?"

The sisters shared a look, as if they were communicating telepathically. "Fine," Miranda conceded. "And what's your plan?"

I grinned at them. "It's simple…"

The more I detailed what I wanted to happen, the more confident I became. This was going to work. I wasn't going to allow her to sink her poisonous claws in him, again. He was _mine_. I have had enough with her always trying to steal him from me – her and that other blonde, loud-mouthed _bitch_. It was a relief that I only had to deal with one this time.

A chuckle reached my ears and a pair of arms wrapped around my waist. "Good job. If the plan doesn't work, you know that all you have to do is ask me and I'll happily get rid of her for you."

I turned my head to glare at the pale face beside me.

"Go away," I hissed. "I don't need you. I have this taken care of."

I was still angry with him. I was still very, _very_ angry.

He hummed before disappearing, taking his green mist with him.

* * *

 **AUTHOR'S NOTE**

Only one chapter to go!

Thank you **Vivi H88, B00KW0RMFA1RY** , guests ( **anonymouscsifan, Guest, Guest** ) for reviewing

 **Vivi H88** : Thank you!

 **B00KW0RMFA1RY** : Hehe… Of course! The demon is always being a stalker… Lurking about…

 **anonymouscsifan** : I promise I'll clarify more! But… Probably not in this story. The mystery will continue on!

 **Guest** : Teehee… hehehehehehehehe. I will just say yes and no.

 **Guest** : Thank you and thank you! :D

Thank you as well to everyone who has favourited and followed this story.

Please, leave a review if you enjoyed this!


	21. Chapter 21

**CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE**

"This was my room wi-with Rory," Audrey sobbed, delicately wiping her eyes. "This was basically our honeymoon, so this place means a lot to me even though he also d-died here. I loved him so much. He was my everything."

I rolled my eyes at her dramatics. Whatever they had was obviously a charade. They both played their parts well, but neither were honest with each other. Rory's reaction was telling enough for me not to worry about him running back into her arms. It wasn't, however, keeping her from trying to irritate us every chance she had.

"What about Madison Harmon?" I heard, well… _everyone_ has heard that she and Rory had a long term relationship before he met you. They had been childhood sweethearts. How was it like working with her? Is she everything that the media has portrayed her to be?" the reporter asked, looking expectantly at the blonde.

Audrey's eyes darkened. "Oh, yes. She was all that and more."

I glared at her, wondering what she was going to say about me. We barely had any interactions and Rory and I really only had one evening together before we died. I didn't even remember him then. Whatever she was going to say would be a lie, just like every other aspect of her life.

"I'm sure you've all seen the footage of Rory and her together. That was no pretend, at all. Every chance she got, she'd throw herself at him. It was absolutely disgusting to watch! How could she do that when his wife is in the same room? I swear, that woman has no shame!" With a deep breath, she fanned herself with her hands. "But I really shouldn't speak about her like that. She killed herself, after all, when she realised that she couldn't have him. It's all such a tragedy. She was a wreck, but her manager seemed to be putting her back together before it all happened."

She walked out of the bedroom. "Between you and me, I think she had started the whole thing. She died and triggered all the spirits to come after us."

The vase beside her suddenly shattered, flinging old, dirty water everywhere.

She let out a shriek, trying to brush off the droplets that left brown stains on her creamy, white blouse.

"What was that?" the primary camera man asked, rotating his equipment around to try to capture what had caused the disruption.

"It's her! It has to be her!" Audrey screamed, stomping away from the mess. "Even in death, she won't leave me alone! _That_ is the type of person she is!"

Even with her acting like a maniac and shouting, the attention as no longer on her. The entire crew was looking around them, trying to find the source – me, but I wasn't going to reveal myself. If they wanted a show, they were going to get one. It wasn't as if any of them could do anything to me.

Materialising in front of Audrey's scurrying form, I made myself visible. She let out a horrified scream and didn't manage to stop herself from speeding through me. I was never going to get used to that sensation. It was as if I could feel every component of her, but it went through me like I didn't even exist or like she didn't exist. It was a stark reminder of how we truly lived in two separate worlds.

"Hello, Audrey," I sneered, pulling her shoulder so that she was facing me.

Her wide eyes were void of all the bravado she had only moments before. "M-Madison… You're not actually here. You _can't_ be. You _DIED_!"

"Yes, well… As you said, I'm back to haunt you because that's _exactly_ the type of person I am." I threw her words back at her and reveled at the way the fear made her pupils dilate.

When the filming crew caught up, I disappeared from view, watching her scrambling around to try to find me. It was an absolute delight to know that his entire thing was going to be filmed.

"What's wrong, Audrey?" the reporter asked, gesturing for the camera to focus on the petrified blonde who was now shouting to no one that they could see. "Audrey? _Ms. Tindall!"_

To the camera man, she murmured, "I think she's finally lost it. We should probably change the premise of this story. We can use the footage to tell how the famous Audrey Tindall is driven mad by the ghosts of her past."

The camera man shrugged, up for anything. All he had to do was keep the lens trained on the raving woman.

Audrey went on, while I snickered, making sure that my antics would only be noticed by her. Sometimes, I'd tug on her hair or knock something over in front of her. I'd whisper in her ears and taunt her. I gave her no mercy. Perhaps this would teach her not to bad mouth the dead.

I smiled. That wasn't going to matter for long.

For the new few hours, I continued to torment her, until the crew began to pack up. Audrey had wormed herself out and was sitting quietly on the porch with a cigarette between her fingers.

"Don't do this." Matt grabbed my arm as I was approaching her. "Don't give in. This isn't the type of person you are."

I lifted my eyebrow at him. "You don't know me. Just because we're all stuck here doesn't mean that we're automatically best friends."

"I never said that, but from what I've seen, you're not a killer," he argued.

"Believe me, I've killed before and this isn't going to be the last time. I will do whatever I can to ensure that she will never bother us again."

"Let the little miss do what she wants." Dominic smirked. "None of our business really."

From the corner of my eyes, I could see the sisters appear behind Audrey with knives in their hands.

"It's too late," I whispered. "Tonight, I will end this."

We watched as Audrey screamed and began to run away. The filming crew was too far away to hear her. They went on packing as she ran blindly through the woods, trying to get away from the nurses.

I followed behind. She was running through the tracks as I expected and right before she could go through the barrier, I stopped her.

"Hello, again," I greeted her, baring my teeth in a wide grin. "Did you have fun? I thought that I'd give you one last show. Your face will be plastered all over the television screens tomorrow. Isn't that what you want? You'll be in the history books."

"What the Hell are you talking about?!" she spat, backing away and straight into Miranda who cackled at her.

I stepped forward. "I won't have you trying to take him away from me, again, Audrey. This will be the last time." I clenched my hands as I thought of her annoying twin heads. "This is for all the times you tried to kill me."

"Bloody Hell! You're mad!" she screamed back at me. "I don't even know what the fuck you're talking about!"

"You will. Once you die, it'll all come back to you," I calmly told her, gesturing with my head towards Miranda who dragged her towards the barrier.

I raised the gun I kept hidden and pointed it at her. Both sisters had their eyes fixated on the scene.

"No… No… Please, no. I can't die here. I'll do anything!" she sobbed. "I don't even love Rory. You can have him! I swear that I'll never come back to this place!"

"I already know that you don't love him. You never did," I stated. "The two of you used each other to get what you wanted, but I can't risk you dying _here_. I need you gone. Forever."

I cocked the gun.

"Do it," he whispered into my ear. His pale hand fell on my own, keeping the gun steady. The green mist licked at my bare legs. "End it here. I will make sure that she will never both you again. At least, not in this life."

Audrey looked at the dark eyes in horror. "Who is he?"

"It doesn't matter," I said. "Run, Audrey. _Run_."

She broke away from Miranda and took off through the barrier just as I pulled the trigger. The bullet caught her neck, spraying blood everywhere. A second one entered the back of her head, freezing her body in mid-motion before she tumbled face first on to the ground.

The sisters laughed like hyenas – cheering and hooting. They bumped playfully into me and patted my back, but I couldn't bring myself to celebrate with them. Doing this hadn't brought me any joy. It had been exhilarating up until I pulled the trigger for the last time and then… nothing, but there was no denying that there was a sort of calm, peaceful satisfaction that she was gone.

"Stop touching me," I mumbled, walking past the people who were running by after hearing the gunshots. Their cries and screams felt like bullets through my own skull.

Dragging my feet, I managed to make it back to the house, brushing by Matt who was shaking his head. His eyes were full of disappointment.

He was the last of my worries.

When I entered the bedroom, Edward only had to take one look at me and seemed to know exactly what I had done.

"Oh, Madi…"

I collapsed into his arms and cried.

…

Rory was startled at the sight of her. The normally lively blue eyes were dull and dead. He cursed himself when he didn't react in time to comfort her and had to settle with lending her his support on the side.

"What happened?" He brushed her hair back and kissed her tear-stained cheek.

Edward leaned down, whispering against her ear, "Should I tell him?"

Her body froze as he tried to figure out what the demon could know and he didn't. He could tell that she didn't want to tell him, but why? There was no reason for her to hide anything from her.

"No – No," she eventually mumbled. "I'll do it."

What had she done that could've been so terrible? He had always known her to be a kind and gentle soul.

She looked away from him, but her deftly tugged her chin back. "Tell me, Madi. No matter what, I'll never stop loving you. Hell knows you've forgiven me for all the shit I put you through."

He couldn't find a single reason why she would be so hesitant. By now, their eternal love should've been very obvious. Nothing was ever going to tear them apart.

 _Nothing_.

Rory waited until she calmed down and fell silent into a meditative state before asking Edward. The demon gave him a look before shaking his head, denying him any answers.

"She'll tell you when she's rested," he said.

With a sigh, Rory relaxed against them. He had to just trust their judgment until she was ready.

Hours passed while they lay on the bed. Rory and Edward did nothing more than engage in light conversations as she remained in her catatonic state.

"I love you." He leaned down, leaving his lips against her soft skin, until she began to stir. She opened her eyes and looked tiredly at him.

"I love you, too," she mumbled. "I… I'm sorry. I think I've made a mistake…"

"What happened?" he quietly asked her.

She looked away. "I lied to you. I said I was going to keep her safe, but… she just made me so _angry_!"

He waited patiently for her to continue. The hesitation was killing him. What had she done that made her feel as if he would be angry at her?

"I killed Audrey!" she finally blurted out, tears springing out of her eyes.

He froze. "What?" He had to have heard incorrectly.

"The things she said and the way she played to the camera…" She shook her head. "The worst thing is, I don't feel bad for what I've done. I'm _glad_ she's gone. I just… I don't know… Murder should be wrong, shouldn't it?"

"Did you kill her here?" Edward asked, a frown on his face.

She shook her head. "No, I know better than that. I made sure she was gone and not coming back."

Rory swallowed, trying to find his tongue, again. Was he hearing all of this right? Madi had killed a woman out of spite. This wasn't like her, at all.

"Say something," she begged him. Her wide, tear eyes were trained on him as she waited for his response.

"I…" He cleared his throat. "I still love you. That will never, ever change." He just wished that she hadn't done that. It was so out of character compared to the young, impressionable girl he had first met all those life times ago.

"You're disappointed in me," she whispered. She wasn't surprised. She was disappointed at herself, as well.

After resting for several hours, the high from what she had done had completely left her system. All that was left was the question "why?"

Why did she ever think that that was a good idea? Why couldn't she get rid of those dark desires until the deed was done? Why did she feel so damn proud of herself, seeing the life leave her body? Why did she allow herself to become this monster?

"It's not your fault, Madi," Edward murmured. "I've told you before, it's this place. Once you die, your inhibitions are slowly chipped away. All those sinful desires suddenly seem like a good idea. No matter what anyone says, you are not responsible." He shot Rory a look.

She shuddered. "I can't exist like this."

Edward tightened his hold on her and for the first time, his hidden fears were clear in his eyes. "It will get better. Once we leave, everything will get better. You can't leave me, Madi." He wouldn't be able to handle going through all that again.

She said nothing.

All of them had fallen silent, once more. The gravity of what she had done weighed heavy on them.

It was that day that things began to change.

* * *

 _AUTHOR'S NOTE_

And that's it for Roanoke! I really hope you liked this story. When I first watched it, I really hadn't planned on writing anything for it because there wasn't much for me to use in terms of canon material with Rory.

 _ **Also, I added a few hundred words I had missed in the beginning of Chapter Nineteen. I'm really sorry for the confusion. Somehow, it didn't get typed and posted with the rest of the chapter. I honestly have no excuse on how that happened.**_

Regarding Cult, I will be writing a story on it. I may take a week off of posting for planning and writing. I'm also having a bit of trouble trying to pinpoint when everything happens. Flashbacks and time jumps are not my best friends, so the likelihood is that I'll just make it my own and place the events as I please because once I fixate on technicalities, I'll lose my rhythm. I will be posting an update here regarding the next story and what the title is. Please, stay tune for that!

Anyway!

Thank you **Candyluver2121, Vivi H88, AGBreads, xXPinkyPieXx** , guests ( **Guest, anonymouscsifan, Guest** ) for reviewing!

 **Candyluver2121** : Thank you so, so much! Not too much of Mordrake in this story, but this won't be the last you'll see of him! I'm so happy that you like this series!

 **Guest** : Hehe… I love writing threesomes… Why choose when you can have both? Madi and Rory's relationship is a bit odd, mainly because him cheating is still so recent for her. The guy bothering Madi? The green mist guy? He's Edward Mordrake from Freak Show. His first appearance in my series is in Vapour. He had also popped up at the very end of Vacant.

 **AGBreads** : Thank you! I hope this last chapter ended alright for you! I know there are quite a few loose ends, but… Maybe it'll be resolved later. Hehe… The series shall continue!

 **anonymouscsifan** : What Mordrake will do to Audrey will forever be a secret! But I'm sure it's nothing pleasant.

 **xXPinkyPieXx** : Wow… Thank you! Yes, I will be writing a story for Cult. I will post a sequel update on here when the first chapter is up. I'm still not sure when I'll continue on V. I've been doing a lot of planning for Cult and not sure how I should go about with V anymore, but I'll figure something out! And I completely agree about Madi and Kai! I love Kai's character (I think I just really love it when he's being a little psychopath...)

 **Guest** : Eventually, I'm going to tie all my stories together, so there will be some bits and bobs that'll leak in. I will definitely continue on with Cult!

Thank you as well to everyone who has favourited and followed this story.

Please, leave a review if you enjoyed it!


	22. Sequel is Up!

**SEQUEL UPDATE!**

So after going through a long list of six letter 'V' words, I ended up with Varlet as the title to my Cult story. The first chapter is posted, now, so if you'd like, you can go take a look!

Thank you **B00KW0RMFA1RY, Vivi H88** , guests ( **Guest, anyonmouscsifan, Guest** ) for reviewing!

 **B00KW0RMFA1RY** : Thank you!

 **Guest** : Hehe… It was very satisfying killing her. I hope to see you at my Cult story!

 **Vivi H88** : Thank you!

 **anonymouscsifan** : Nope… Mordrake isn't going to be lenient at all. Hehe… Sorry it took so long for the first chapter of Cult to be posted! I'm hoping to keep a weekly schedule again!

 **Guest** : Thank you so much! I do intend for Madi to slowly evolve and change, for better or for worse.

Thank you as well to everyone who has favourited and followed this story and I hope to see all of you in the next one!


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